Hirvonen Maija, Purcell Carrie, Elliott Lawrie, Bailey Julia V, Simpson Sharon Anne, McDaid Lisa, Moore Laurence, Mitchell Kirstin Rebecca
Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (see Acknowledgments), London, United Kingdom.
MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Feb 16;23(2):e20898. doi: 10.2196/20898.
There is a strong interest in the use of social media to spread positive sexual health messages through social networks of young people. However, research suggests that this potential may be limited by a reluctance to be visibly associated with sexual health content on the web or social media and by the lack of trust in the veracity of peer sources.
The aim of this study was to investigate opportunities and challenges of using social media to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of sexual health messages within the context of STASH (Sexually Transmitted Infections and Sexual Health), a secondary school-based and peer-led sexual health intervention.
Following training, and as a part of their role, student-nominated peer supporters (aged 14-16 years) invited school friends to trainer-monitored, private Facebook groups. Peer supporters posted curated educational sex and relationship content within these groups. Data came from a feasibility study of the STASH intervention in 6 UK schools. To understand student experiences of the social media component, we used data from 11 semistructured paired and group interviews with peer supporters and their friends (collectively termed students; n=42, aged 14-16 years), a web-based postintervention questionnaire administered to peer supporters (n=88), and baseline and follow-up questionnaires administered to students in the intervention year group (n=680 and n=603, respectively). We carried out a thematic analysis of qualitative data and a descriptive analysis of quantitative data.
Message sharing by peer supporters was hindered by variable engagement with Facebook. The trainer-monitored and private Facebook groups were acceptable to student members (peer supporters and their friends) and reassuring to peer supporters but led to engagement that ran parallel to-rather than embedded in-their routine social media use. The offline context of a school-based intervention helped legitimate and augment Facebook posts; however, even where friends were receptive to STASH messages, they did not necessarily engage visibly on social media. Preferences for content design varied; however, humor, color, and text brevity were important. Preferences for social media versus offline message sharing varied.
Invitation-only social media groups formed around peer supporters' existing friendship networks hold potential for diffusing messages in peer-based sexual health interventions. Ideally, interactive opportunities should not be limited to single social media platforms and should run alongside offline conversations. There are tensions between offering young people autonomy to engage flexibly and authentically and the need for adult oversight of activities for information accuracy and safeguarding.
人们对利用社交媒体通过年轻人的社交网络传播积极的性健康信息有着浓厚兴趣。然而，研究表明，这种潜力可能会受到以下因素的限制：不愿在网络或社交媒体上明显地与性健康内容相关联，以及对同龄人信息来源的真实性缺乏信任。
本研究旨在调查在“性传播感染与性健康”（STASH）这一以中学为基础、由同龄人主导的性健康干预背景下，利用社交媒体促进性健康信息在同龄人之间分享的机会和挑战。
经过培训后，学生提名的同龄人支持者（年龄在14 - 16岁）作为其职责的一部分，邀请学校朋友加入由培训师监控的私人Facebook群组。同龄人支持者在这些群组中发布精心策划的性教育和关系方面的内容。数据来自对英国6所学校的STASH干预可行性研究。为了解学生对社交媒体部分的体验，我们使用了来自对同龄人支持者及其朋友（统称为学生；n = 42，年龄在14 - 16岁）进行的11次半结构化配对和小组访谈的数据、向同龄人支持者发放的基于网络的干预后调查问卷（n = 88），以及向干预年级组的学生发放的基线和随访调查问卷（分别为n = 680和n = 603）。我们对定性数据进行了主题分析，对定量数据进行了描述性分析。
同龄人支持者的信息分享受到对Facebook参与度不一的阻碍。由培训师监控的私人Facebook群组为学生成员（同龄人支持者及其朋友）所接受，让同龄人支持者感到安心，但导致的参与与他们日常使用社交媒体的方式并行，而非融入其中。基于学校的干预的线下背景有助于使Facebook帖子合理且更有影响力；然而，即使朋友们接受STASH信息，他们也不一定会在社交媒体上明显参与。对内容设计的偏好各不相同；然而，幽默、色彩和文本简洁很重要。对社交媒体与线下信息分享的偏好也有所不同。
围绕同龄人支持者现有的友谊网络形成的仅限受邀者加入的社交媒体群组，在基于同龄人的性健康干预中具有传播信息的潜力。理想情况下，互动机会不应局限于单一社交媒体平台，而应与线下对话同时进行。在给予年轻人灵活、真实参与的自主权与为确保信息准确性和保障安全而需要成年人对活动进行监督之间存在矛盾。
