Young Sexual Minority Women's Evaluation Processes of Online and Digital Sexual Health Information

Abstract

Young sexual minority women (SMW) report worse sexual health outcomes in comparison to their heterosexual peers. One potential reason for this disparity could be SMW's lack of access to accurate and appropriate sexual health information. Many sexual minority youth report school-based sexual health curricula to be less useful than do heterosexual youth. As such, SMW may be more likely to seek sexual health information online. However, not all online sexual health information is relevant to the health needs of young SMW, and resources targeting SMW have been found to be lower in quality. Understanding more about how young SMW navigate and evaluate online sexual health resources is necessary to better identify their pathways of access to information. The current qualitative study addresses this issue through analyzing data from a series of focus groups with young SMW on their experiences of evaluating online sexual health information. The primary findings indicate that the young SMW in the current sample employ an extensive filtering system to identify the quality of any particular resource, and the criteria for these systems differ depending upon whether participants were seeking personal narratives or evidence-based information. Implications for sexual health information communication and interactions with healthcare providers are addressed.