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WORK TITLE: Sexuality in Adolescence: The Digital Generation
WORK NOTES: with Susan Moore and Doreen Rosenthal
PSEUDONYM(S): Temple-Smith, M.J.
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Melbourne
STATE: Victoria
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Australian
https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person76277 * https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-temple-smith-9840834
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
University of Melbourne, associate professor, director of research training in the Department of General Practice; SHAPE project, cochief investigator; Australasian Sexual Health Alliance, executive; Murray City Country Coast, board member.
AWARDS:Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Excellence Award for Equity, Diversity and Staff Development, 2014.
WRITINGS
Contributor to journals, including Australian Family Physician; Culture, Health and Sexuality; PLoS One; Sexual Health; and others.
SIDELIGHTS
Doreen Rosenthal, Susan Moore, and Meredith J. Temple-Smith collaborated on the book Sexuality in Adolescence: The Digital Generation. Publishing numerous academic articles, several books, and book chapters, Rosenthal and Moore have cowritten books on youth, AIDS, and grandparenting. Born September 23, 1938, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Doreen Rosenthal is a developmental psychologist at the University of Melbourne. She was founding director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society and was professor of women’s health and director at the Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society at the University of Melbourne.
Born July 14, 1945, Susan Moore is a developmental social psychologist at Swinburne University Melbourne and Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society. Her research focuses on adolescent psychology, risk taking, and the psychology of health and illness. Associate professor Meredith J. Temple-Smith is the director of research training in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne, with oversight of all research students in the department. She is also cochief investigator on the SHAPE project and focuses her research on sexual health, hepatitis C, and health services research.
Sexuality in Adolescence
In 1993 Rosenthal and Moore cowrote Sexuality in Adolescence, reprinted in subsequent editions to discuss current trends. For the 2015 third edition, Sexuality in Adolescence: The Digital Generation, they partnered with cowriter Temple-Smith. The book discusses biological, social, and health-related approaches to studying adolescence with a focus on research into psychology, epidemiology, and medicine. The authors explain how the developing brain and changing hormone levels influence sexual activity and explore healthy sexual development for teens. They also address risk taking, teen pregnancy, and abortion, as well as the need for reality-based sex education.
Today’s technological advancements pose a unique situation for adolescents. The authors discuss the impact of social media and technology on sexual development, body image, slut shaming, pornography, and gender stereotypes. A survey of 500 students age fourteen to seventeen showed that fifty-seven percent used the media, particularly Web sites, as a source of sex education. Writing in Choice, W.P. Anderson claimed: “This is a major summation of what is known about adolescent sexuality in 2015, offering up-to-date information.” Online at Metapsychology, Shaun Miller remarked: “The book is written in such a way where you can delve into an individual chapter without needing to know the previous chapters, and the writing style is clear.”
Youth, AIDS, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, New Age Nanas, and Grandparenting
Rosenthal and Moore joined with cowriter Anne Mitchell to publish the 1996 volume Youth, AIDS, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The book describes the worldwide prevalence and impact of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) on youth. The authors offer health-care providers, sex educators, and counselors of adolescents information on the impact of AIDS around the world, provide an overview of research and policy aimed at combatting STDs, describe how sexual behavior has changed in light of the AIDS epidemic, explain how young people view risk, and highlight changing attitudes about their sexual health.
Rosenthal and Moore partnered to write New Age Nanas: Being a Grandmother in the 21st Century in 2012. Drawing on interviews with a thousand modern Australian grandmothers, the authors explore the changing role of grandmother in the twenty-first century, describe evolving relationships with grandchildren, explain new ways of negotiating conflicts, emphasize the importance of taking personal time for themselves, and highlight tips for making the most of being a grandmother. In an interview with Sarah Marinos at the Herald Sun Online, Rosenthal, with seven grandchildren of her own, commented: “Women talked about feeling renewed as a person and gaining a younger perspective by seeing the world through their grandchild’s eyes.”
Rosenthal and Moore followed up with Grandparenting: Contemporary Perspectives in 2017. Social and psychological research, survey results, observations, case studies, and data on grandfathers are used to reflect on the contemporary positive approach to aging. The authors discuss gerontology, caregiving, changing family structure, responding to the challenges and possibilities of grandparenting, navigating intergenerational relationships, and growing older.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Choice, April, 2016, W.P. Anderson, Sexuality in Adolescence: The Digital Generation, p. 1203.
ONLINE
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/ (April 9, 2017), author profile.
Metapsychology, http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/ (March 29, 2016), Shaun Miller, review of Sexuality in Adolescence.
University of Melbourne Web site, http://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/ (April 9, 2017), author faculty profile.
LC control no.: n 88090908
Descriptive conventions:
rda
Personal name heading:
Temple-Smith, M. J. (Meredith J.)
Variant(s): Smith, M. J. Temple- (Meredith J. Temple-)
Temple-Smith, Meredith
Fuller form of name
Meredith J.
Special note: Cannot identify with Smith, Meredith J.
Found in: Johnson, K.A. Nursing outside hospitals, 1987: t.p. (M.J.
Temple-Smith, BSc, Dip App Ch Psych, MAPsS; Dept. of
Community Med., Univ. of Melbourne) cover (Meredith
Temple-Smith)
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PROF MEREDITH TEMPLE-SMITH
Positions
Academic, General Practice
Hepatitis C
Sexual Health (General Practice, contact tracing, notification, knowledge, attitudes and practices, CALD communities)
Overview
Affiliation
Publications
Research
Awards
Linkages
Supervision
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Overview
Overview
Professor Meredith Temple-Smith is the Director of Research Training in the Department of General Practice. Primarily a qualitative researcher, her interests centre on sexual health, hepatitis C, and health services research. She is currently a Chief Investigator on a substantial suite of projects examining ways to improve and sustain Chlamydia testing in the general practice setting, based on the Australian Chlamydia Control Effectiveness Pilot (ACCEPt), a cluster randomised controlled trial of chlamydia testing in general practice. She is also a CI on subsequent grants which are evaluating this intervention and its sustainability in 54 rural towns and 150 practices. She has written or co-written over 80 peer-reviewed publications and two books, and edited three books, used as texts. She is on the Executive of the Australasian Sexual Health Alliance, and on the Board of Murray City Country Coast, a GP training provider. She assisted in the establishment of VicReN, the Victorian general practice based research network, and is an academic lead for APCReN, an umbrella organisation which brings together primary care practice based research networks Australia-wide. She is heavily involved in teaching primary care research skills to primary care practitioners, and has oversight of all research students in the Department.
Has subject area
For 2008 6 Digit Code
Primary Health Care
Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified
Seo 2008 6 Digit Code
Behaviour and Health
Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified
Awards
Education and training
DHSc, Deakin University 2002
MPH, Monash University 1995
Grad Dip Movt Dance, Melbourne College of Advanced Education 1985
Grad Dip App Child Psych, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 1979
BSc, Monash University 1977
Awards and honors
Excellence Award for Equity, Diversity and Staff Development, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and health Sciences, 2014
Professor Meredith Temple-Smith is the Director of Research Training in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne. Primarily a qualitative researcher, her interests centre on sexual health, hepatitis C, and health services research. She has written or cowritten over 80 peer-reviewed publications and two books, and edited three books, which are used as texts. Meredith is a Co-Chief Investigator on the SHAPE project.
Temple-Smith, Meredith. Sexuality in adolescence: the digital generation
W.P. Anderson
53.8 (Apr. 2016): p1203.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association CHOICE
http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/about
Temple-Smith, Meredith. Sexuality in adolescence: the digital generation, by Meredith Temple-Smith, Susan Moore, and Doreen Rosenthal. Routledge, 2016. 354p bibl index ISBN 9781848723016 cloth, $160.00; ISBN 9781848723023 pbk, $57.95
53-3564
HQ27
2015-6898 CIP
Temple-Smith, Moore, and Rosenthal (all Australia-based scholars) have written an extensive exploration of the effect of the explosion in digital technologies on the sexual behavior of adolescents. In examining the complexities underlying sexual behavior, sexual health, and sex education, the authors reference 900 studies conducted in countries around the world. Thus, this is a major summation of what is known about adolescent sexuality in 2015, offering up-to-date information on how the developing brain and changing hormone levels influence sexual activity. The authors give special attention to the reality that modern technology influences adolescents' attitudes about body image and sexual interactions by providing models that are not always in the best interests of the teenage audience. This has led to an increase in the number of sex partners and a corresponding increase in sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Statistics are highlighted and made more relevant by quotes from teenagers in many different situations and cultures. The authors clearly note that more reality-based sex education is needed to promote healthy sexual attitudes and behavior. This book can play a part in creating that education. Summing Up: ** Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.--W. P. Anderson, University of Missouri--Columbia
Anderson, W.P.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Anderson, W.P. "Temple-Smith, Meredith. Sexuality in adolescence: the digital generation." CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Apr. 2016, p. 1203. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA449661695&it=r&asid=1026ea2adb31c0f6b9073d1d0599b6ec. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A449661695
Review - Sexuality in Adolescence
The digital generation
by Meredith Temple-Smith, Susan Moore, and Doreen Rosenthal
Routledge, 2015
Review by Shaun Miller
Mar 29th 2016 (Volume 20, Issue 13)
Sexuality is influenced by many discursive topics: biology, psychology, physiology, cultural influences, sociology, and philosophy. Lately, however, the advancement of technology has shaped sexuality, particularly the youth since they seem to be more adept and take advantage of the new technology as opposed to the older generations who function in what they already know from the past. Social media is now a major part of developing sexual relationships in terms of dating rituals and courtship. While this book is a comprehensive study that covers a lot of ground, I will focus on the chapters that the authors spend a lot of time with, such as sex education and adolescent sexual behavior, but they also cover new ground that deals with the digital generation, such as sexting and the media to see how these new technologies have influenced adolescents. The authors also examine various qualitative and quantitative studies to provide what the latest science says about sexuality.
We often think of adolescents prone to risky behavior and poor judgements, which is due to a lack of prefrontal cortex control. Even if adolescents have the knowledge, they may not implement this knowledge in the heat of the moment. Despite this, we should not think of the adolescent brain as temporarily broken until adulthood. Rather, we should think of the adolescent brain as a "work in progress." This "work in progress" must be incorporated in how we can help the adolescents get used to these new feelings and a new body image to help the adolescents acquire an informed way of being in the world. Engaging in risky behavior is not just biology. We have to understand the context in which the adolescents are in. For example, we may think that with higher levels of testosterone in young men when they enter puberty may be problematic because they may engage in more risk-taking behavior. However, if the boys had non-deviant peers, then these young men were seen as leaders. The relationship between higher levels of hormones and behavior is modified by the social context, which includes sanctions and peer pressures. Most adolescents learn how to cope with their new moods and motivations depending on how supportive the environment they are in.
When it comes to sex education, there is a twin paradox: parents think of their own adolescents as young, innocent, naive and immature. It is the rest of the adolescents that are hypersexual and hormonally out of control. Not only do parents lack knowledge about sexuality, but both parents and children are uncomfortable talking about sexuality. Many studies show that parents have a hard time communicating sex to their children, particularly fathers toward their daughters. If the parents do get involved, most of the talking was done by the mother. However, even if parents can talk to their children about sexuality, parents can reinforce gender roles. To illustrate, the authors provide a study showing that families follow the cultural norms unquestionably. They buy into the "male sex drive discourse" that males have uncontrollable urges, which makes it harder to teach adolescent males that they can take a more caring role without the thought that they are being emasculated by doing so. Parents also try to protect their daughters by stressing their sexual vulnerability and emphasize the dangers of sex whereas sons get more leeway. Focusing on the male as a sexual predator, seeking only pleasure, and the female as victim (seeking only romance and intimacy) perpetuates gender inequalities and traditional sexual scripts. Examples include slut-shaming the sexual double standard. Moreover, many studies show that adolescents get most of their (mis)information about sexuality from their peers.
When it comes to comprehensive sex education programs, young people are generally satisfied, but they felt that the messages were repeated without much of an opportunity to raise new issues or look at the nuances of sexuality. It is mostly taught through a biological lens and hardly focused on communication with partners, relationship dynamics, or pleasure. Some teachers may not up to the task, however. Students preferred sexual health peers or sexual health educators from community organizations to deliver sex education. Most did not want faith-based organizations to deliver the message. However, students did not feel that they had the courage to challenge the teacher because of a power dynamic.
So what are some routes to teach adolescents about sex? Technology has been helpful in informing adolescents about sexual health such as websites geared toward them or apps. Young people want information about sexual health and sexual pleasure, how to communicate with their partners, and how to develop skills in giving their partners pleasure. When it comes to sexual motivations, there are more similarities than differences between the genders. They had the same motivations for intimacy, closeness, self-affirmation, and as a coping strategy. Without a comprehensive sex education, adolescents will not know the skills to reject unwanted consequences. This lack can be seen in the various data of teenage pregnancy.
Young women in the US are 3-4 times more likely to get pregnant than their counterparts in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. And the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the US are found in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Why do adolescents become pregnant? There are many features as to why: inconsistent or non-usage of contraceptives, the glamorization of pregnancy, abuse, and negligence. Contextual factors need to be taken into account such as socioeconomic status and social supports. There is much evidence that pregnant teens have lower grades and lower school motivation before becoming pregnant than their non-pregnant peers. Moreover, economic adversity and educational difficulties are the most common outcomes of becoming an adolescent parent. In the US, for example, black and hispanic adolescents usually keep their babies because their communities typically do not believe that child-bearing leads to social disadvantage. In other words, parenthood at an early age is not seen as disruptive of their everyday lives.
However, adolescents can be pressured into unwanted sexual activity because of perceived norms of the social situation they are in, because of alcohol or drug influences, because they do not know how to express their desires or wishes or are frightened to do so, or because they or their partner hold attitudes and beliefs supporting the use of force/coercion in certain situations and with particular 'types' of people (p. 256). Indeed, many adolescents report that their sex education did not prepare them to deal with unwanted sex or sexual assault, nor the confidence to implement risk-reducing strategies (p. 264).
How does technology play a role in adolescent sexuality? There is ample evidence that heavy exposure to sexual content in the media is associated with more rapid progression of sexual behavior and earlier first sex. From a survey of 500 students ages 14-16, 57 percent used the media as a source of sex education, most of it from websites. Many adolescent sexual minorities have gone to the internet because they feel they can be more honest with themselves than offline. Moreover, the internet can offer therapeutic assistance to young gay people. However, the media can also set up a sexual agenda for young people that does not necessarily reflect their own desires. Magazines aimed at adolescents are designed to tell young women that their function in life is to be sexually attractive to maintain and keep a boyfriend.
Pornography has created expectations in terms of their own and their partner's sexual behaviors. It is also a way to make sure one does certain activities in order to keep the relationship. However, many adolescents are challenging the meanings behind pornography. Teaching about sexual practices can make pornography educational. It can improve sexual knowledge, attitudes toward sex, attitudes and perceptions of the opposite sex, and their general quality of life.
Overall, this book is a good research tool for those who need more information regarding sexuality. The book is written in such a way where you can delve into an individual chapter without needing to know the previous chapters, and the writing style is clear. There is enough updated materials to look further into studies that was mentioned in this short review, and since the digital age is fairly new as well as researching adolescent sexuality from that angle, I am sure there will be many more studies in the future, which makes the information ripe with new understandings on the development of sexuality in general.
© 2016 Shaun Miller
Shaun Miller is a Ph. D student at Marquette University.