Doreen Rosenthal

• University of Melbourne

An edited book about what motivates family historians - 12 articles

Relationships of trust between research participants and researchers are often considered paramount to successful research; however, we know little about participants’ perspectives. We examined whom research participants trusted when taking part in research. Using a qualitative approach, we interviewed 36 research participants, including eight Indi...

Trust in research is important but not well understood. We examine the ways that researchers understand and practice trust in research. Using a qualitative research design, we interviewed 19 researchers, including eight researchers involved in Australian Indigenous research. The project design focused on sensitive research including research involv...

It is important for researchers to understand the motivations and decision-making processes of participants who take part in their research. This enables robust informed consent and promotes research that meets the needs and expectations of the community. It is particularly vital when working with Indigenous communities, where there is a history of...

This qualitative study explores the social context and protective factors that enable young men in a slum area (lorong) in Makassar, Indonesia, to abstain from using drugs. Semi-structured interviews, conducted with fifteen male non-drug users in the lorong showed, despite living in a drug risk environment, non-drug users were involved in neither t...

Objectives To investigate the views of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) members and of researchers concerning the human research ethics review process in Australia. To examine whether there are differences between views of researchers and HREC members. Design and setting Registrants at the NHMRC Ethics in Human Research Conference held in Can...

In theory, HREC members should use the ethical guidelines in the National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans as the basis for their decisions, and researchers should design their research in accordance with these guidelines However, very little is known about what researchers and HREC members actually do in practice. In t...

Considerable time and resources are invested in the ethics review process. We present qualitative data on how human research ethics committee members and health researchers perceive the role and function of the committee. The findings are based on interviews with 34 Australian ethics committee members and 54 health researchers. Although all partici...

There are few studies exploring the social context of controlled drug use amongst young people in Indonesia. This qualitative study examines the experience of young people in a slum area (lorong) in Makassar, eastern Indonesia, who use drugs but are not drug dependent and who employ various forms of self regulation to control their use. Semi-struct...

To investigate factors associated with health service use by women and their infants in Victoria, Australia. Cross-sectional screening survey of 875 women with 4-month-old infants attending immunisation clinics in five local government areas in Melbourne between May 2007 and August 2008. The self-report instrument assessed socio-demographic charact...

There is increasing recognition that Perinatal Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) are a major public health problem for women in resource-constrained countries. There is an urgent need for screening tools suitable for use by community based health workers to assist in the identification of people with compromised mental health. The aim of this study wa...

There is little research on women's experience of abortion, despite its prevalence and considerable public debate. Women have abortions in a discursive environment that can pit the foetus against the woman and identifies motherhood as a woman's destiny. What does it mean to have an abortion in these circumstances? The research reported in this pape...

This study explores similarities and differences in the attitudes of Italian-Australian and Anglo-Australian female tertiary students to a range of issues associated with gender. The two groups were similar in their attitudes to marriage, to the combining of work and family life, and in their levels of ambition. The Italian-Australian students repo...

To increase understanding of women's perspectives on considering or undergoing elective abortion. Qualitative study. A large public women's hospital in the state of Victoria, Australia. Sixty women who had contacted a public pregnancy advisory service in Victoria, Australia, seeking information, advice, or appointments in relation to an unplanned o...

OBJECTIVE: To establish the prevalence of common perinatal mental disorders their determinants, and their association with preventive health care use among women in one rural and one urban province in northern Viet Nam. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of cohorts of pregnant women and mothers of infants recruited systematically in 10...

To establish the prevalence of common perinatal mental disorders their determinants, and their association with preventive health care use among women in one rural and one urban province in northern Viet Nam. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of cohorts of pregnant women and mothers of infants recruited systematically in 10 randomly-selected co...

The subjective well-being of a sample of 979 international students attending a large metropolitan university in Melbourne, Australia, was investigated. A person-focussed approach was used to determine whether different ways of adapting, based on patterns of well-being, could be discerned. Cluster analysis of responses on 21 measures identified thr...

There is little empirical evidence about what resources health researchers use in order to make decisions about the ethical conduct of human research. Undertaking an empirical examination of how researchers understand research ethics and how they address ethical issues in research practice can lead to a richer understanding of how researchers appro...

The Risk Amplification and Abatement Model (RAAM) demonstrates that negative contact with socializing agents amplify risk, while positive contact abates risk for homeless adolescents. To test this model, the likelihood of exiting homelessness and returning to familial housing at 2 years and stably exiting over time are examined with longitudinal da...

To assess whether knowledge of insurance implications influenced uptake of genetic testing by participants in a research study of the causes of colorectal cancer. Analysis of uptake of genetic testing by participants in the population-based Victorian Colorectal Cancer Family Study during two periods: from 1999 to 2003, when participants were not in...

The aim was to identify from empirical research that used quantitative or qualitative methods the reasons women give for having an abortion. A search was conducted of peer-reviewed, English language publications indexed in eight computerized databases with publication date 1996-2008, using keywords 'abortion' and 'reason' (Medline: 'induced abortio...

Effective chemoprevention strategies exist for women at high risk for breast cancer, yet uptake is low. Physician recommendation is an important determinant of uptake, but little is known about clinicians' attitudes to chemoprevention. Focus groups were conducted with clinicians at five Family Cancer Centers in three Australian states. Discussions...

In theory, HREC members should use the ethical guidelines in the National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans as the basis for their decisions, and researchers should design their research in accordance with these guidelines. However, very little is known about what researchers and HREC members actually do in practice. In...

There is growing evidence to support developing new typologies for homeless adolescents. Current typologies focus on the risks associated with being homeless, with less consideration of the positive attributes of homeless adolescents. The authors examined both risk and protective factors in a sample of newly homeless adolescents. Using cluster anal...

To characterise the demographic and psychosocial circumstances of women contacting Victoria's largest public pregnancy advisory service (PAS). Audit of PAS electronic records for the 12 months from 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2007. De-identified data were extracted from a comprehensive electronic database used for recording consultations. Summar...

To examine the effect of time spent homeless on young people's substance use and use of drug and alcohol services in two countries with contrasting policy and service environments. A crossnational survey was conducted of recently homeless and experienced homeless young people in Melbourne (N = 674) and Los Angeles (N = 620). Questions were asked ab...

In a qualitative study, 302 homeless young people (aged 12 to 20 years) were asked to discuss their reasons for leaving home. Some 103 youth cited physical violence by a parent or stepparent, and of these, 39 cited their mother's or stepmother's violence as the reason for leaving home. Females were more likely than males to report being the target...

The association between socio-economic marginalisation in urban poor neighbourhoods and the prevalence of violence, crime, drug use and drug dealing has been well documented. However few studies have explored the social context of the transition to, initiation and maintenance of drug injection career in slum areas in developing countries. This stud...

To longitudinally examine the association between newly homeless youth individual factors (sociodemographic characteristics, depression, substance use), and structural factors, such as living situation (family, institution, nonfamily), with sexual risk behaviors. A cohort of newly homeless youth from Los Angeles County (N = 261; aged 12-20 years) w...

The stability of living situation was examined as a predictor of young people's HIV-related sexual and drug use acts two years after leaving home for the first time. Newly homeless youth aged 12-20 years were recruited in Los Angeles County, California, U.S.A. (n = 261) and Melbourne, Australia (n = 165) and followed longitudinally at 3, 6, 12, 18,...

A representative sample of undergraduate and postgraduate international students at a large Australian university (n = 979, 64% females) completed a mail-back survey examining their perceptions of social connectedness. Four aspects of social connectedness were investigated: (1) connectedness in Melbourne, (2) social mixing and interaction with co-c...

Background: A vaccine program is underway to protect women against human papillomavirus (HPV) and thus cervical cancer. Previous studies have reported very low levels of HPV knowledge and there has been concern that preventative vaccines might not be readily accepted, given that HPV is transmitted sexually and the optimal time for vaccination is be...

Background: Studies conducted in several sub-Saharan African countries have revealed that women and girls engage in intergenerational sexual relationships without the protection of condoms, giving cause for concern about HIV transmission. These relationships often occur against the girls’ will and for many reasons, including reasons associated with...

Prompted by legislation in Victoria, Australia, permitting gamete donors to seek identifying details of people conceived from their gametes, this research investigated the views of adolescents from the general population on how parents can best talk to their donor-conceived adolescent children about their conception. Qualitative interviews (six gro...

We examined HIV/AIDS risk behaviors among homeless youth in cross-national data collected in Melbourne, Australia (n= 398), and Los Angeles, California (n= 498). Using structural equation modeling, we found that the Australian youth reported greater involvement in AIDS risk behaviors than the American youth and the Australian youth were more involv...

A large sample of international students attending an Australian metropolitan university provided data concerning use of university health and counselling services—their perceived need for help, resultant help-seeking, satisfaction with help given, explanations for not seeking help when in need, and variables that predicted help-seeking. Using as c...

Newly homeless adolescents from Melbourne, Australia (n = 165) and Los Angeles, United States (n = 261) were surveyed and followed for 2 years. Most newly homeless adolescents returned home (70% U.S., 47% Australia) for significant amounts of time (39% U.S., 17% Australia more than 12 months) within 2 years of becoming homeless.

A vaccine that protects women against the two most frequent high-risk genotypes of human papilloma virus (HPV) and the two types that cause 90 percent of genital warts was licensed in June 2006 in the USA and Australia. It is important to understand whether a vaccine delivered to young women before the onset of sexual activity would be acceptable....

A cross-national survey was conducted among 358 recently homeless young people in Melbourne and Los Angeles. Drug dependence and mental illness were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. At each time point, participants were classified as no condition, drug dependent, having a mental illness or dual condition. Low levels of drug dependence or ment...

This study examined the applicability to condom use of Ajzen and Madden's (1986) theory of planned behavior by examining the predictors of intention to use a condom and actual condom use in a specific sexual situation. In a sample of 144 sexually active heterosexual males and females, limited support was found for the model. Intentions to use a con...

To describe the reasons homeless young people leave home and differences between males and females. Homeless young people between the ages of 12 and 20 years (n = 692) completed surveys conducted by trained interviewers using Questionnaire Delivery System on laptop computers as part of a large study. Participants indicated the importance of each of...

Cross-national comparisons of homeless youth in Melbourne, Australia, and Los Angeles, CA, United States were conducted. Newly (n = 427) and experienced (n = 864) homeless youth were recruited from each site. Compared to Australia, homeless youth in the United States were younger, more likely to be in school or jail, demonstrated fewer sexual and s...

Background: This qualitative study assessed HIV/AIDS knowledge and frequency of and influences on condom use with clients and regular, non-client partners among female sex workers (FSWs) in Khanh Hoa, a tourist-oriented province of central Vietnam where sex work is common. Methods: Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with indirect (n...

Numerous studies have revealed high levels of drug-taking among young people experiencing homelessness. This article draws upon 40 in-depth interviews carried out as part of a five-year longitudinal study of homeless young people (Project i). It is noteworthy that almost all of those who identified their drug use as problematic gave up or reduced t...

This study investigates the sexual self-efficacy and sexual self-esteem of males and females and the relation between sexual risk-taking and these self-perceptions. Sexually active 18-year-olds were administered measures of sexual self-efficacy and sexual self-esteem and were asked about their sexual behaviour. Males had higher levels of self-estee...

A representative sample of undergraduate and postgraduate international students at a large Australian university (n=979, 64% females) completed a mail-back survey of their health and wellbeing. Most students evaluated their current and previous physical and mental health positively. Health-related risk practices such as unprotected sexual activity...

Young people who experience homelessness, in Australia and in other western contexts (US, Canada, England), are widely perceived to use and abuse alcohol and drugs. The available research indicates that homeless young people use all drug types, whether injected or otherwise, more frequently than their home-based peers. Debate exists in the research...

Predictors of perceived family bonds were examined among homeless young people who initially left home one year earlier. Newly homeless young people aged 12-20 years who had recently left home were recruited in Los Angeles County, United States (n = 201) and Melbourne, Australia (n = 124) and followed longitudinally at 3, 6, and 12 months (follow-u...

The authors examine how the properties of peer networks affect amphetamine, cocaine, and injection drug use over 3 months among newly homeless adolescents, aged 12 to 20 in Los Angeles (n = 217; 83% retention at 3 months) and Melbourne (n = 119; 72% retention at 3 months). Several hypotheses regarding the effects of social network properties on the...

An Australian study of parent–adolescent communication about sexuality revealed complex meanings inherent in the understanding of ‘openness’. These included willingness to answer questions while not keeping a spotlight on the topic; having an open‐minded attitude; balancing openness with privacy; and being responsive to characteristics of the child...

Most research has focused on the individual characteristics of homeless young people, yet contextual factors such as service delivery are crucial to understanding this population's pathways in and out of home or stable accommodations. The limited research that has examined service delivery has documented the importance of providing appropriate serv...

Research on the utilization of genetic testing services for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 has focused on women with a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. We conducted a population-based case-control-family study of Australian women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer before age 40 years, unselected for family history, and tested fo...

In a study exploring the relationship between typology and risk, we investigated the daily routines of a heterogeneous sample of young men and women from two sites who had been homeless for varying periods (N = 1289). Cluster analysis yielded four groups-'Partnered', 'Socially engaged', 'Service connected-harm avoidant', and 'Transgressive'-based o...

The incidence of involuntary sex among homeless young people is considerably higher than in the general population. The most common reason for unwanted sex is being drunk or high at the time. There is a need for programs that provide homeless young people with knowledge and decision-making skills to enable them to avoid unwanted sex and thus exposu...

This chapter discusses the difficulties experienced by fathers in carrying out what they accept as their parental responsibility to communicate with their children about sexuality. Examples are given from interviews with fathers, their wives, and their adolescent children.

Background: The Tri-State HIV/STD Project, a joint initiative of Australian Health Ministers, implemented in 1994 to respond to three key imperatives: Aborigines in the central desert region of Australia experienced endemic rates of STDs far in excess of non-Indigenous rates; health services in the region were under-resourced, with little collabora...

Teenagers in Grades 8 and 10 and their parents completed a questionnaire examining the frequency of parental communications about sexuality and the communicative style when discussing sexuality and in general. Respondents also assessed parents' competence in communicating about sexual matters. For each set of respondents (teens reporting about moth...

Over the years public health in Western countries has shifted its focus from sexual diseases to a broader consideration of sexual health driven by a concern over world population and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Increased interest in the social determinants of sexual health has reduced medical hegemony. Many research centers have included social and beha...

An Australian study of communication among young people aged 12-14 and their parents suggested an explanation for difficulties experienced by fathers in communicating about sexuality with their children: Namely, the positioning of fathers within the discourses of both traditional masculinity and involved fatherhood. These incompatible subject posit...

We studied parents' and teenagers' evaluations of parents as sex educators; the convergence between mothers', fathers', and teens' evaluations; and communication factors that influenced these evaluations. Surveys, administered to 209 10th graders, 156 mothers, and 91 fathers, assessed global evaluation of parents as sex educators, diverse dimension...

To document the prevalence of same-sex attraction among students in years 10 and 12 in Australian Government high schools and to assess the association between same-sex attraction, binge drinking and drug injection. Cross-section survey by anonymous, self-administered questionnaire of 3,387 students in Years 10 and 12 of the Government school syste...

High-schoolers (n=298) completed surveys describing the frequency and importance of mother and father communication about 20 different sex-related topics. There were four domains of sex-related topics: Development and Societal Concerns, Sexual Safety, Experiencing Sex, and Solitary Sexual Activity. Adolescents reported infrequent communication whic...

Early initiation of sexual activity is aconcern, in part because of increased risk of sexuallytransmitted diseases, including HIV, and unwantedpregnancies among young people. In this study, 241 high schoolers were administered a questionnaire toestablish the relationships between age at first sexualintercourse and personal qualities (sexual style,a...

Teenagers are exposed to two potentially conflicting sexual health messages, one emphasizing the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the other stressing pregnancy prevention. To protect teenagers from both STDs and unwanted pregnancy, it is important to know what method choices they make and why. Data from a 1997 national survey...

Hepatitis C (HCV) has recently emerged as an important public health issue. This study documents young people's hepatitis C (HCV) knowledge, risk perceptions and sources of information. Australia, 1997; nationally representative survey; sample of students in Years 10 and 12 in government secondary schools (n = 3,550). Students' knowledge about HCV...

This paper explores the ways in which the notion of reproductive technology is represented in the narratives of infertility told by a sample of Australian women. These narratives suggest that reproductive technology has been configured as the alternative instrument in realising the quest for a child. Because reproductive technology was represented...

Young heterosexuals are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases as a result of their inconsistent use of condoms. When a condom is used it is more likely to be to avoid pregnancy than as protection from disease. In this paper, adolescent use of condoms is theorized within the canonical narrative of romance, as one major factor in the s...

To understand safe sex behavior in two countries which have been differentially affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the present study compared the AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of 920 heterosexual undergraduate students in Australia and 228 heterosexual undergraduate students in South Africa. South African students were found to h...

The way in which sex may be constructed as safe through its relationship with 'love' is the concern of this study. Interviews with 112 heterosexual women and men from discos and bars in Melbourne, Australia, catering to single adults revealed the pervasive construction of sex within the discourses of 'love' and 'romance'. The relationship of these...

This paper urges vigilance in retaining the meaning of 'safe sex' as ways of having sex that reduce or eliminate the chances of contracting an STD. Interviews with heterosexual adolescents revealed that the term 'safe sex' is frequently understood to mean contraception. There is also evidence of this shift in meaning in the wider community. The con...

Young people's age expectations for the Initiation by boys and girls of a range of sexual practices were elicited from a sample of 522 15- and 16-year-olds. As expected, there was a progression in the modal ages nominated from the least intimate (kissing) to more intimate behaviors (sexual intercourse). There were few gender differences, either for...

The 'Schoolies Week' phenomenon attracts more than 10,000 school leavers to Surfers Paradise in November and December each year. In a survey of these young people (N = 1796), from Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), and Victoria, about two-thirds of the young men and one-third of the young women expected to have sexual intercourse while in Surfers P...

An event specific analysis was used to identify relationships between condom use and situational variables in a sample of 244 young people aged between 15 and 18 years. High levels of condom use were reported (81% used a condom in their most recent sexual encounter) and condom use was more commonly reported by young men than by young women. For you...

The safe sex practices and attitudes of 112 heterosexual adults (58 men, 54 women), aged 20 to 40 years were elicited through an interview and questionnaire. Participants were recruited at discos and bars catering to single adults. Attitudes to safe sex were generally positive although these attitudes were not always reflected in actual practices....

This study examined the self-reported masturbatory experiences of high schooler and the relationships between masturbation and sexual intercourse and personal characteristics of these young people. A total of 436 suburban Australian adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age participated. Boys were more likely to report ever having masturbated (58....

Initiation into injecting is a crucial event for continued reproduction of an injecting drug using (IDU) population and for exposure to blood-borne viruses, but little is known about how this happens. Three hundred young injectors were interviewed in Melbourne by peer workers within the first few years of beginning to inject, about the circumstance...

The juxtaposition of pleasure and danger has engaged many feminist theorists and researchers in the field of sexuality. This article presents a theoretical analysis of the ambiguous and complex relationship between 'pleasure', 'danger' and contemporary feminist theory. In doing so, it offers an understanding of the ways in which the categories of p...

Self-ratings of health as worse than, the same as, or better than their peers were elicited from 426 adolescents together with measures of health-related behaviours (dieting, substance and alcohol use, exercise) and social/interpersonal measures (extent of social activities, physical attractiveness and maturity, and self-esteem). Self-ratings of he...

To examine differences in the AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of first year university undergraduates in 1989 and 1994. Comparisons were made between cross-sectional surveys, conducted in 1989 and 1994, of first year undergraduates at three Melbourne universities. The 1994 cohort reported more positive attitudes toward, and better...

Perception of risk of ten diseases — five STDs and five non-STDs — along with participant beliefs about disease commonness, seriousness, personal control over contraction, extent to which the disease was likely to happen to a particular type of person, and personal knowledge of a sufferer, were assessed in a sample of 477 undergraduate college stud...

This study examined the constructions of sexuality among a sample of 470 adolescent high schoolers in Grades 10-12. Using cluster analysis, five different sexual styles were identified: Sexually Naive, Sexually Unassured, Sexually Competent, Sexually Adventurous, and Sexually Driven. These styles were characterized by differences in gender, age, an...

Unemployed adolescents may be at substantial risk of the negative consequences of sexuality. This study investigated the sexual perceptions and practices of 125 unemployed adolescents. Gender, but not age, differences were found in sexual perceptions and practices. Overall, this sample was engaging in high levels of sexual activity with a low rate...

Employing a model of risk perception, 650 adolescents (347 girls) rated 10 activities including drug an alcohol use, unprotected sexual intercourse and driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol in six domains: perceived risk to the self; perceived risk to peers; pleasure or benefits derived; ability to control risks; peer approval; and,...

Homeless, Anglo-Australian and Greek-Australian 16-year-olds were questioned about their sexual behaviour and sexual beliefs. Measures of sexual risk-taking included type of behaviour, condom use and number of partners. Drug risk was assessed by extent of i.v. drug use, and sharing and cleaning needles. Sexual beliefs included self-perceptions of s...

A follow-up study was conducted to investigate change in sexual behaviour, knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission, and attitudes to condoms over a 6-month period in a sample of late-adolescent students. The study also obtained subjective reports of HIV/AIDS-relevant change. Overall there was a decrease in sexual risk-taking behaviour with casual par...

Links of high risk behavior with personality dimensions of venturesomeness and impulsiveness were established for 237 college students ages 18 to 20 years.

This study was an examination of the sexual worlds of 153 adolescents aged 15 to 18 years through the content analysis of interviews on the topics of love, romance, relationships between the sexes, sexual values and sexual behaviors. The aim was to develop more detailed descriptions of the dimension of adolescent sexuality and related these dimensi...

This study investigated the validity of the Health Belief Model when applied to adolescents' responses to the threat of AIDS. A sample of 195 sexually active 18-year-old university students was questioned about their sexual behaviour, their perceptions of the seriousness of AIDS, their own susceptibility to the disease, the costs and benefits of us...

Two binational, cross-sectional studies investigated how immigration influences parental behaviors, adolescent distress, and the relationship between these two variables. Chinese adolescents from first- and second-generation immigrant families in the U.S., together with non-immigrant peers from the host culture (Euro-American) and the culture of or...

This study explored the ethnic identity of first- and second-generation Chinese-Australian and Chinese-American adolescents. Ethnic identity was assessed by: ethnic identification, the extent to which individuals engaged in culturally expected behaviors and their knowledge of the culture, the importance of maintaining these behaviors, and the value...

The acculturation of values was studied among high school youths of Chinese ancestry in the U.S. and Australia. Eight domains of values were derived from Chinese and Western value scales. Within the U.S. and Australian samples, the values of first- and second-generation youths of Chinese origin were compared to one another, to the samples of Euro-A...

The aim of this study was to evaluate adolescents' perceptions of their risks in five health-related areas and ascertain the relationship between risk perception and actual risky behavior. As well, five "event characteristics" postulated by Weinstein to be associated with unrealistic optimism about future life events were assessed to determine thei...

This study investigated the relationship between four types of parenting behaviour—warmth, control, monitoring, and autonomy-promoting—and two components of ethnic identity—ethnic behaviours/knowledge and ethnic pride—in first- and second-generation Chinese-American and Chinese-Australian high school students. As hypothesized, parenting behaviours...