ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper adds to the growing body of research examining the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on the everyday lives of young people. It draws on theories of "digital intimacies" and "relationship maintenance" to argue that young people's reflections on COVID-19, physical distancing and online relationships expose larger gaps in sex, relationships and health education pedagogies. Design/methodology/approach: Five semi-structured online focus groups were conducted with Canadian adolescents aged 16-19 probing their experiences of dating and platonic relationships during COVID-19. Narrative thematic analysis methods were used to develop themes outlining how physical distancing measures have affected young people's relationship norms, expectations and values. Findings: COVID-19 physical distancing measures and school closures appeared to create the conditions for some young people to productively reflect on the labor involved in the maintenance of their relationships in relation to considerations of proximity, reciprocity and distance. This labor was particularly articulated by female participants, many of whom expressed that life disruptions caused by COVID-19 catalyzed learning about their own relationship needs, desires and boundaries. Research limitations/implications: Results from this research are not widely generalizable, as each participant had a unique experience with COVID-19 physical distancing measures, schooling and in-person contact. Due to anonymity measures implemented, participant narratives cannot be confidently associated with demographic surveys that hampered the ability to offer an intersectional analysis of participant experience. Originality/value: Discussions of relationship maintenance and digital intimacies elucidate the limitations of health education's tendency to construct adolescent relationships as existing along binaries of "healthy" and "unhealthy." Health education might benefit from more meaningful integration of these concepts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
To understand how COVID-19's stay-at-home orders impacted youths' sexual and social development, we conducted five virtual focus groups (n=34) with adolescent girls', trans', and non-binary youths' aged 16-19 between April-June 2021 in the GTA. We queried experiences of home, privacy, and sexual wellbeing during Canada's third wave. Auto-generated zoom transcripts were coded using an inductive framework with NVivo. Field notes and team discussions on the coded data informed the analysis. This paper explores how sexual wellbeing during the pandemic is practiced in relation to, dependent upon, and negotiated at home. Using intersectionality theory and embodiment theory, this research analyzes how youth's diverse identities shape their understandings and experiences of sexual wellbeing. We found youth needed spaces where they were not only unseen, but importantly, unheard. We argue sound as an important piece of boundary-work that reveals the way youth construct space during precarious times. Youth primarily negotiated sonic privacy through (a) sound-proofing, (b) sound warnings and (c) "silent reassurance", a term we coined to describe the precursor of silence from other household members in order for youth to feel safe enough to practice sexual wellbeing. We found that white youth cited the bedroom as the best space for sexual wellbeing practices, but BIPOC youth felt the bedroom was only their best available option and still found they had to negotiate privacy. Attending to intersectionality theory, we expand on McRobbie and Garber's (1976) bedroom culture concept and widen Hernes' (2004) concept of physical, social and mental boundary-work to include sound as a fourth type, which straddles amongst them. This research shows how privacy, gender and sexual identities were negotiated at home in times of extreme uncertainty, highlighting how implications of home as a 'place' during the pandemic, constructs sexual wellbeing. Mapping how and where youth practice embodied sexual wellbeing exposes the ways that private and public understandings of identity relate to sexuality and geographies of home. We understand the home as a complex space that can not only determine sexual wellbeing, but where health promoting boundaries can be negotiated. We conclude with suggestions for supporting adolescent sexual wellbeing, inside and outside the home, during and after COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
The use of participatory visual methods and integration of cellphone technology is expanding in global public health research. Cellphilm method capitalises on these trends by inviting participants to use mobile devices to create short videos about health topics. This paper presents the quilted cellphilm method, which supports the participation of stigmatised populations to engage in research. We present the method with reference to the Celling Sex project, which worked with young women who have transactional sex experience. Four key steps in our unique model are discussed: (a) individual cellphilm-making; (b) participatory analysis; (c) creating a composite video; (d) publicly screening the work. We consider how working individually with participants in the cellphilm-making process built trust. We unpack how offering participants opportunities to engage in either group or one-on-one activities promoted participation in collaborative analysis. We outline how creating a composite video of the cellphilms and organising screenings facilitated knowledge translation and exchange. Overall, the quilted cellphilm method created a supportive community for vulnerable participants to generate products that challenged social stigma. Increased reliance on mobile media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, makes the quilted cellphilm method an opportune, exciting and accessible approach for participatory public health research.