Professor Deb Loxton

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York. Objective To determine rates of vaginal delivery, emergency caesarean section, and elective caesarean section for first and second births in Australia, and to identify maternal predictors of caesarean section. Methods Data were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women¿s Health. A total of 5275 women aged 18¿38 years, who had given birth to their first child between 1996 and 2012 were included; 75.0% (n = 3956) had delivered a second child. Mode of delivery for first and second singleton birth(s) was obtained from longitudinal survey data. Socio-demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric and medical history variables were tested as predictors of mode of delivery for first and second births using multinomial logistic regression. Results Caesarean sections accounted for 29.1% (n = 1535) of first births, consisting of 18.2% emergency and 10.9% elective caesareans. Mode of delivery for first and second births was consistent for 85.5% of women (n = 3383) who delivered both children either vaginally or via caesarean section. Higher maternal age and body mass index, short-stature, anxiety and having private health insurance were predictive of caesarean section for first births. Vaginal birth after caesarean section was more common in women who were older, short-statured, or had been overweight or obese for both children, compared to women who had two vaginal deliveries. Conclusions for Practice Rates of caesarean section in Australia are high. Renewed efforts are needed to reduce the number of unnecessary caesarean births, with particular caution applied to first births. Interventions could focus on elective caesareans for women with private health insurance or a history of anxiety.

© Australian Health Promotion Association 2017. Issue addressed Smoking, risky drinking, overweight and obesity, and physical inactivity are health-risk factors (HRFs) that contribute significantly to morbidity worldwide. Several initiatives have been introduced over the past two decades to reduce these HRFs. This paper examines changes in the prevalence of HRFs in young women (aged 18-23 years) between 1996 and 2013, overall and within demographic groups. Methods Data from two cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, born in 1973-78 (n=14247) and 1989-95 (n=17012) were weighted to provide national estimates. Prevalence ratios were used to compare HRFs in 2013 relative to 1996. Results In 1996, 32% were current smokers, 38% were risky drinkers, 22% were overweight or obese and 7% were physically inactive. In 2013, corresponding estimates were 19%, 35%, 33% and 6%. Between 1996 and 2013, overall smoking prevalence decreased, but remained over 43% among least educated women. Overweight and obesity increased in all demographic groups. Conclusions The findings suggest that only smoking, which has been the subject of changes in taxation, legislation and regulation, declined significantly, in all except the least educated women. In contrast, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, which has largely been addressed through awareness campaigns and voluntary actions by the food industry, increased markedly in all demographic sub-groups. So what? The findings show that comprehensive health promotion interventions, such as those for tobacco control, are successful (but may still be ineffective among less educated women). In contrast the measures to control population weight gain among young women have been futile so far.

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aims and objectives: To explore in detail how women perceived their experience of domestic violence and leaving or ending the abuse. This research also examined how service providers identified their professional role in assisting women to end such relationships. Background: Domestic violence against women continues to occur internationally. Reliable statistics are difficult to capture because of inconsistent definitions, contradictory methods of acquiring data and unreported incidents. Design: A qualitative study, undertaken in two phases, was conducted in Australia. Methods: Twelve women who had experienced domestic violence and ended those relationships participated in one semistructured interview (Phase 1). Twenty-five professionals from health, social sciences and law, whose work included assisting women experiencing domestic violence, participated in three focus groups (Phase 2). Thematic analysis guided by a narrative inquiry approach forms the framework for information collection and interpretation of data in this project. Findings: The barriers that impede women from disclosing abuse and taking action to end domestic violence are complex and varied between participants. Women did not always acknowledge or realise their relationship was precarious and often denied or minimised the abuse to cope with the domestic violence. Professionals identified that women did not always identify or acknowledge abuse inherent in their relationship although this delayed the provision of appropriate services. Conclusion: Whether women disclose abuse or deny violence in their relationship, acceptance by service providers and the offer of support is crucial to assisting women in violent relationships. Relevance to clinical practice: It is hoped that the findings may assist health practitioners, including nurses, to provide nonjudgemental support to women experiencing domestic violence whether women acknowledge the abusive relationship or not.

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Objective To explore the characteristics of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) users in a nationally representative cohort of young Australian women aged 18¿23. Methods Data from 3155 women who responded to a question about their contraceptive use in the previous six months at the baseline Contraceptive Use, Pregnancy Intention and Decisions (CUPID) survey were included. Results 726 (19.1%) women reported LARC use, with the Implanon being the most popular method (n¿=¿478; 65.8%). A history of pregnancy was strongly associated with increased odds of LARC use in the multivariate model (OR¿=¿2.67, 95% CI¿=¿2.11, 3.34, p¿=¿0.001). Comparatively, using contraception for reasons other than pregnancy prevention was associated with decreased odds of LARC use in the multivariate model (period management: OR¿=¿0.74, 95% CI¿=¿0.60, 0.91, p¿=¿0.004, body management: OR¿=¿0.53, 95% CI¿=¿0.37, 0.77, p¿=¿0.001, medical condition: OR¿=¿0.25, 95% CI¿=¿0.09, 0.66, p¿=¿0.005). Highest education and Medicare card status also contributed to the final multivariate model, and were associated with decreased odds of LARC use. Conclusion Reproductive history and reasons for contraceptive use are strong indications of method choice. Promoting LARC as highly effective may not be a sufficient incentive for young women to take up the method when pregnancy prevention may be equal or secondary to their desired non-contraceptive effects.

© 2017 The Authors Objective: To identify the prevalence of bullying among women aged 18¿23 in 2013, and to describe the demographic characteristics, health and risk factors of those who experienced bullying. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis using data from the 1989¿95 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, a nationally representative cohort (n=16,801). Results: More than one-quarter of women (28.4%) indicated they had never been bullied, 53.4% reported experiencing bullying in the past and 18.2% indicated that they were recently bullied. Women who had experienced bullying were more likely to have lower levels of education, less likely to be studying or employed, and had more difficulty managing on their income. Women who experienced bullying were more likely to use tobacco or illicit drugs, be overweight or obese and to be sedentary. Even after adjusting for these factors, women who had experienced bullying were at risk of poor physical health, psychological distress, suicidal thoughts and self-harm. Conclusions: This is the first nationally representative study to demonstrate the strong association between being a victim of bullying and health outcomes in a post-school-age population. Implications for public health: The findings highlight the need for interventions for women who have already experienced bullying and are past school age.

© 2016 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. Introduction. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 9-21% of reproductive- age women. The relations between PCOS, body mass index (BMI) and breastfeeding are unclear. Our aim was to examine breastfeeding in women with and without PCOS and the relation with BMI. Material and methods. This is a cross-sectional study set in the general community. Participants are women, aged 31-36 years, from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), a large community-based study. Data was analyzed from the first child of respondents to Survey five (2009) reporting at least one live born child. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with breastfeeding. The main outcome measures studied were breastfeeding initiation and duration and the main explanatory variables included selfreported PCOS and BMI. Results. Of the 4898 women, 6.5% reported PCOS (95% confidence interval 5.8-7.2%). Median duration of breastfeeding was lower in women reporting PCOS (6 months, range 2-10 months) than in women not reporting PCOS (7 months, range 3-12 months) (p = 0.001). On multivariable regression analysis, there was no association between PCOS and breastfeeding outcomes. However, being overweight or obese was associated with not initiating breastfeeding and with breastfeeding for less than 6 months, after adjusting for confounders. Conclusions. High BMI is negatively associated with breastfeeding, whereas PCOS status per se does not appear to be related to breastfeeding initiation and duration, after adjusting for BMI.

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Data from a national, population-based longitudinal study of Australian women (26-34 years) were analyzed to investigate the association between domestic relocation and multiple explanatory factors, namely intimate partner violence (IPV), metropolitan versus non-metropolitan residence, education, income, housing tenure, number of children, and changes in relationship status. Experience of IPV in the past 12 months was significantly associated with increased odds of domestic relocation. This association remained significant after controlling for age, social support, area of residence, income, number of children, education, and housing situation. Change in relationship status attenuated the association between recent IPV and domestic relocation. Metropolitan versus non-metropolitan residence had no major influence on these results.

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. New developments in female contraceptives allow women increased options for preventing pregnancy, while men¿s options for reversible contraception have not advanced beyond the condom. There has been little discursive exploration of how neoliberal and postfeminist discourses shape women¿s accounts of choosing whether or not to use contraception. Our thematic discourse analysis of 760 free-text responses to a question about contraceptive choice considers the social and political climate that promotes the self-governed woman who freely chooses contraception. We examine the ways in which women formulated and defended their accounts of choice, focusing on the theme of free contraceptive choice that constructed women¿s choices as unconstrained by material, social and political forces. We identify two discursive strategies that underpinned this theme: a woman¿s body, a woman¿s choice and planning parenthood, and explore the ways in which choice was understood as a gendered entitlement and how contraceptive choices were shaped (and constrained) by women¿s plans for parenthood. We discuss the implications of these discursive strategies, and neoliberal and postfeminist discourses, in terms of the disallowance of any contextual, social and structural factors, including the absence of men in the ¿contraceptive economy¿.

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Background: The long-term impact of binge drinking on subsequent depressive symptoms is unclear. The aims were to identify longitudinal patterns of binge drinking and whether binge drinking preceded depressive symptoms in the short-term (1-6 years) and long-term (10-15 years). Methods: Longitudinal data from 1996, 2000 and 2009 mailed surveys of 8,197 women in the 1973-78 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Latent class analysis was used to identify binge drinking patterns and logistic regression to estimate associations with subsequent depressive symptoms. Results: Five binge drinking trajectories were identified with predicted proportions of women who were very infrequent (24%), fluctuating infrequent (17%), frequent (17%), very frequent (26%) or extremely frequent binge drinkers (16%) between 16 and 21 years. At 22-27 years, depressive symptoms were significantly higher for extremely frequent binge drinkers (31% versus 21% in the short-term; 22% versus 16%-18% in the long-term) than for less frequent bingers. Unadjusted odds of depressive symptoms were 1.70 (95%CI:1.38;2.08) times for extremely frequent binge drinkers than very infrequent bingers and were 1.30 (95%CI:1.04;1.63) after adjusting for demographics, relationships and experience of violence. At 31-36 years, the odds of depressive symptoms were 1.34 (95%CI:1.09-1.64) times for extremely frequent than very infrequent binge drinkers, but were not significant after adjusting for relationships and violence. Conclusions: Extremely frequent binge drinking (more than weekly) in late adolescence appears to elevate the risk of subsequent depressive symptoms in young women in their early twenties and thirties, emphasising the need for preventive strategies to curb binge drinking.

© 2016 Chojenta et al. Purpose While previous studies have identified a range of potential risk factors for postnatal depression (PND), none have examined a comprehensive set of risk factors at a population-level using data collected prospectively. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between a range of factors and PND and to construct a model of the predictors of PND. Methods Data came from 5219 women who completed Survey 5 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health in 2009 and reported giving birth to a child. Results Over 15% of women reported experiencing PND with at least one of their children. The strongest positive associations were for postnatal anxiety (OR = 13.79,95%CI = 10.48,18.13) and antenatal depression (OR = 9.23,95%CI = 6.10,13.97). Positive associations were also found for history of depression and PND, low SF-36 Mental Health Index, emotional distress during labour, and breastfeeding for less than six months. Conclusions Results indicate that understanding a woman's mental health history plays an important role in the detection of those who are most vulnerable to PND. Treatment and management of depression and anxiety earlier in life and during pregnancy may have a positive impact on the incidence of PND.

© 2016 CSIRO. Little research examining qualities of contraception that make them attractive or unattractive to users, particularly young women, exists. The aim of this study is to systemically review the evidence regarding desirable and undesirable qualities of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), including intrauterine devices, the implant and the injection, as perceived by women. Five electronic databases were searched in May 2015 using terms related to LARC and method preference or decision-making. Studies were included if they concerned women aged 18-23 years from developed countries and reported on perceived positive or negative qualities of LARC. Thirty articles were deemed relevant. Five key themes emerged under which qualities were categorised; including: (1) impact on bleeding; (2) impact on the body; (3) device-specific characteristics; (4) general characteristics; and (5) perceptions and misbeliefs. Fit and forget, high efficacy and long-term protection were considered the top desirable qualities of LARC. Undesirable qualities varied among the LARC methods; however, irregular bleeding, painful insertion and removal procedure, weight gain and location in the body were among those most commonly reported. The contraceptive benefits of LARC, including their high efficacy and longevity, are generally considered to be positive qualities by women, while the potential impact of side-effects on the body are considered as negative qualities. This information is crucial in the clinical setting as it provides practitioners with a greater understanding of the qualities women do and do not like about LARC methods. Discussion about these qualities, positive and negative, during consultations about contraception may increase rates of uptake.

Background: Because childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adult violence are associated with poorer physical and mental health of women, our aim was to investigate the associations between CSA, adult violence experiences and general practice service use and satisfaction in a community sample of Australian women aged 28-33 years. Methods: Data of 9058 women from the 1973-78 cohort who completed Survey 4 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were analysed. Results: Logistic regressions conducted indicated that after controlling for demographic variables, women with experiences of lifetime violence were more likely to have higher general practice service use compared to those without violence experiences. CSA was not associated with an increase in service use but was significantly associated with a decrease in service satisfaction. This finding remained significant even when they visited the general practice more frequently. Discussion: Implementing trauma-informed care is suggested as a way to improve the satisfaction of this patient group with complex needs.

Objectives: To examine bias arising from loss to follow-up due to lack of contact. Study Design and Setting: The 1973-1978 cohort of Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health was first surveyed in 1996 and followed up in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009. At the 2000 survey, 9,688 women responded (responders), 2,972 could not be contacted, of whom 1,515 responded subsequently (temporary no contact) and 1,457 did not (permanent no contact). Characteristics were compared for these groups at baseline and follow-up in 2003, 2006, or 2009. Relative risk ratios were used to estimate bias. Results: No-contacts were younger, more likely to live in cities, to be less educated and stressed about money than responders. No-contacts were more likely to be in de facto relationships, separated, divorced, or widowed, to have experienced partner violence and be smokers. Compared with temporary no contact, permanent no contact were less educated, less likely to be studying or employed. Despite differences in prevalence estimates, relative odds ratios were close to one and had confidence intervals that included one, indicating little effect of bias. Conclusion: Although various characteristics were related to loss to follow-up, the relative risks estimates did not indicate serious bias due to loss to follow-up in this cohort of young women.

Introduction and Aims: To examine women's drinking behaviour relative to Australian guidelines and identify associated factors over the lifespan. Design and Methods: Data came from three prospective cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health aged 18-23 (n=14247), 45-50 (n=13715) and 70-75 years (n=12432) when first surveyed in 1996. The same women were re-surveyed at roughly 3-year intervals until 2012. At each survey, four drinking behaviours were based on two guidelines: long-term drinking (no more than two standard drinks per day) and episodic drinking (no more than four standard drinks on an occasion): (i) no risk (within both guidelines); (ii) low episodic risk (less than once a month); high episodic risk (at least once a month); long-term risk (more than two drinks per day regardless of episodic drinking). Results: No risk drinking increased with age, low episodic risk drinking remained almost constant between ages 18 and 39, and high episodic risk drinking declined rapidly. Few women drank at long-term risk. Factors associated with risky drinking varied with age; however, being a past or current smoker consistently increased the risk, and risks for smokers increased with age. Risky drinking was less likely to be practised by women providing care and needing help with daily tasks, or by pregnant women and those living with children. Discussion and Conclusions: Risky drinking behaviour should be addressed in younger women and in those who smoke. Interventions to reduce risky drinking, possibly in combination with reducing smoking, could be offered through general practice centres.

Relatively little is known about the extent to which young adults use the Internet as a health information resource and whether there are factors that distinguish between those who do and do not go online for health information. Objective: The aim was to identify the sociodemographic, physical, mental, and reproductive health factors associated with young women's use of the Internet for health information. Methods: We used data from 17,069 young women aged 18-23 years who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between sociodemographic, physical, mental, and reproductive health factors associated with searching the Internet for health information. Results: Overall, 43.54% (7433/17,069) of women used the Internet for health information. Women who used the Internet had higher odds of regular urinary or bowel symptoms (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.36-1.54), psychological distress (very high distress: OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.13-1.37), self-reported mental health diagnoses (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.23), and menstrual symptoms (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.15-1.36) than women who did not use the Internet for health information. Internet users were less likely to have had blood pressure checks (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.93) and skin cancer checks (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84-0.97) and to have had a live birth (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.64-0.86) or pregnancy loss (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.98) than non-Internet users. Conclusions: Women experiencing "stigmatized" conditions or symptoms were more likely to search the Internet for health information. The Internet may be an acceptable resource that offers "anonymized" information or support to young women and this has important implications for health service providers and public health policy.

© 2015 The Author. Recruitment of young people for epidemiologic research remains challenging, with marked decreases in the effectiveness of face-to-face, mail, and telephone recruitment methods. We report on the implementation and feasibility of an innovative and flexible approach used to recruit participants for a longitudinal cohort study about contraceptive use and pregnancy (the Contraceptive Use, Pregnancy Intention, and Decisions (CUPID) Study). Australian women aged 18-23 years were recruited using a range of online, networking, and offline methods, including social media (primarily Facebook (Facebook Inc., Menlo Park, California; http://www.facebook.com)), face-to-face events, distribution of promotional material, and media releases. Over the course of the 1-year recruitment period (beginning in September 2012), a total of 3,795 eligible women were recruited to complete the online survey, at a cost of approximately A$11 per participant. This sample was found to be broadly representative of the Australian population of women aged 18-23 years in terms of demographic characteristics, with the exception of an overrepresentation of tertiary-educated women (88.7% compared with 72.6%). This study demonstrated that although current recruitment strategies are required to be innovative and flexible in order to engage young people in epidemiologic research, representative samples can be achieved online at reasonable cost.

© 2015 Gresham et al. Background: Many epidemiological studies that focus on pregnancy rely on maternal self-report of perinatal outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement between self-reported perinatal outcomes (gestational hypertension with or without proteinuria, gestational diabetes, premature birth and low birth weight) in a longitudinal study and linked to administrative data (medical records). Methods: Self-reported survey data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health was linked with the New South Wales Perinatal Data Collection. Agreement between the two sources was evaluated using percentage agreement and kappa statistics. Analyses were conducted at two levels by: i) the mother and ii) each individual child. Results: Women reliably self-report their perinatal outcomes (=87 % agreement). Gestational hypertension with or without proteinuria had the lowest level of agreement. Mothers' reports of perinatal outcomes were more reliable when evaluated by child. Restricting the analysis to complete and consistent reporting further strengthened the reliability of the child-specific data, increasing the agreement from > 92 to > 95 % for all outcomes. Conclusions: The present study offers a high degree of confidence in the use of maternal self-reports of the perinatal outcomes gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth and low birth weight in epidemiological research, particularly when reported on a per child basis. Furthermore self-report offers a cost-effective and convenient method for gathering detailed maternal perinatal histories.

© 2015 Harris et al. Objective: To qualify the psychosocial burden of osteoarthritis for older women and identify factors perceived to assist with psychological adjustment to the disease. Methods: Women who indicated being diagnosed/treated for osteoarthritis in the previous three years in the fifth survey of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health provided the sampling frame. Participants were randomly sampled until saturation was reached using a systematic process. Thematic content analysis was applied to the 19 semi-structured telephone interviews using a realist framework. Results: The findings indicate that the emotional burden of osteoarthritis is considerable, and the process of psychological adjustment complex. Older women with osteoarthritis have psychological difficulties associated with increasing pain and functional impairment. Psychological adjustment over time was attributed primarily to cognitive and attitudinal factors (e.g. stoicism, making downward comparisons and possessing specific notions about the cause of arthritis). This was a dynamic 'day to day' process involving a constant struggle between grieving physical losses and increasing dependence amidst symptom management. Conclusion: The findings of this study add to the current understanding of the complex processes involved in psychological adjustment over time. Targeted interventions focused on assisting women with arthritis redefine self-concepts outside the confines of caring responsibilities, coupled with public health education programs around understanding the destructive nature of arthritis are required. Understanding the destructive and (potentially) preventable nature of arthritis may facilitate early detection and increased uptake of appropriate treatment options for osteoarthritis that have the ability to modify disease trajectories.

While grief, emotional distress and other mental health conditions have been associated with pregnancy loss, less is known about the mental health impact of these events during subsequent pregnancies and births. This paper examined the impact of any type of pregnancy loss on mental health in a subsequent pregnancy and postpartum. Data were obtained from a sub-sample (N = 584) of the 1973-78 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, a prospective cohort study that has been collecting data since 1996. Pregnancy loss was defined as miscarriage, termination due to medical reasons, ectopic pregnancy and stillbirth. Mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety, stress or distress, sadness or low mood, excessive worry, lack of enjoyment, and feelings of guilt. Demographic factors and mental health history were controlled for in the analysis. Women with a previous pregnancy loss were more likely to experience sadness or low mood (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.11 to 2.76, p = 0.0162), and excessive worry (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.24 to 3.24, p = 0.0043) during a subsequent pregnancy, but not during the postpartum phase following a subsequent birth. These results indicate that while women who have experienced a pregnancy loss are a more vulnerable population during a subsequent pregnancy, these deficits are not evident in the postpartum. © 2014 Chojenta et al.

Background: Faced with the challenge of recruiting young adults for health studies, researchers have increasingly turned to the Internet and social networking sites, such as Facebook, as part of their recruitment strategy. As yet, few large-scale studies are available that report on the characteristics and representativeness of the sample obtained from such recruitment methods. Objective: The intent of the study was to describe the sociodemographic and health characteristics of a national sample of young Australian women recruited mainly through the Internet and social networking sites and to discuss the representativeness of their sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle characteristics relative to the population. Methods: A cohort of 17,069 women (born between 1989 and 1995) was recruited in 2012-13 for the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Sociodemographic characteristics (percentages, means, and 95% confidence intervals) from the online survey data were compared with women aged 18-23 years from the 2011 Australian Census. Sample data were compared by age and education level with data from the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey (AHS). Results: Compared to the Australian Census data, study participants were broadly representative in terms of geographical distribution across Australia, marital status (95.62%, 16,321/17,069) were never married), and age distribution. A higher percentage had attained university (22.52%, 3844/17,069) and trade/certificate/diploma qualifications (25.94%, 4428/17,069) compared with this age group of women in the national population (9.4% and 21.7% respectively). Among study participants, 22.05% (3721/16,877) were not in paid employment with 35.18% (5931/16,857) studying 16 or more hours a week. A higher percentage of study participants rated their health in the online survey as fair or poor (rather than good, very good, or excellent) compared with those participating in face-to-face interviews in the AHS (18.77%, 3203/17,069 vs 10.1%). A higher percentage of study participants were current smokers (21.78%, 3718/17,069 vs 16.4%) and physically active (59.30%, 10,089/17,014 were classified as sufficiently active vs 48.3%) but alcohol consumption was lower (59.58%, 9865/16,558 reported drinking alcohol at least once per month vs 65.9% in the AHS). Using self-reported height and weight to determine body mass index (BMI, kg/m 2 ), 34.80% (5901/16,956) of the cohort were classified as overweight or obese (BMI of 25 or more), compared with 33.6% respectively using measured height and weight in the AHS. Conclusions: Findings indicated that using the Internet and social networking sites for an online survey represent a feasible recruitment strategy for a national cohort of young women and result in a broadly representative sample of the Australian population.

© 2014 The European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health. Objective A comprehensive life course perspective of women's experiences in obtaining and using contraception in Australia is lacking. This paper explores free-text comments about contraception provided by women born between 1973 and 1978 who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). Methods The ALSWH is a national population-based cohort study involving over 40,000 women from three age groups, who are surveyed every three years. An initial search identified 1600 comments from 690 women across five surveys from 1996 (when they were aged 18-23 years) to 2009 (31-36 years). The analysis included 305 comments from 289 participants. Factors relating to experiences of barriers to access and optimal contraceptive use were identified and explored using thematic analysis. Results Five themes recurred across the five surveys as women aged: (i) side effects affecting physical and mental health; (ii) lack of information about contraception; (iii) negative experiences with health services; (iv) contraceptive failure; and (v) difficulty with accessing contraception. Conclusion Side effects of hormonal contraception and concerns about contraceptive failure influence women's mental and physical health. Many barriers to effective contraception persist throughout women's reproductive lives. Further research is needed into reducing barriers and minimising negative experiences, to ensure optimal contraceptive access for Australian women.

This study examines differences in uptake of the Medicare items rolled out in 2006 under the 'Better Access Scheme' (BAS) between rural and non-rural Australian women. It compares differences in women's uptake of the BAS services by area of residence (ARIA+) across time using the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health (ALSWH) survey data linked to Medicare data. Women aged 28-33 years at the time the BAS was introduced that responded to the self-reported question on depression/anxiety and consented to linkage of their survey data with Medicare data (n=4316). Participants were grouped by ARIA+according to BAS use, diagnoses of anxiety/depression but no BAS use and other eligible women. Across all areas, women born 1973-1978 with a self-reported diagnosis of depression/anxiety or having treatment under the BAS had a significantly lower mean mental health score compared to other women. Significantly more women living in non-rural areas had used at least one service provided under the BAS initiative compared to women in outer regional, inner regional or remotes areas (21% versus 18% versus 13% versus 7%, respectively), and across all areas, 12% of women reported having a diagnosis of depression/anxiety but not been treated under the BAS. While there is a gradual uptake of the new BAS services, a large percentage of women who have a diagnosis of depression/anxiety have not been treated under the BAS. The data suggest that women in urban areas have been better able to take up the services compared to non-urban women. © 2014 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

© 2013 ACOTA. Aim: This paper explored how gerontology experts described baby boomers, whether they challenged the popular image, and if they provided alternatives to the popularly reported baby boomer behaviours and characteristics. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten experts from different areas across Australia. The interviews were semi-structured and guided by a 'sense-making' approach to explore the baby boomer construct and identify expert narratives that differed from the popularly tendered image. Results: The majority of experts were identified as baby boomers and made use of phrases associated with the popular baby boomer image, such as 'cashed up', 'reinventing retirement' and 'sea change'. Lifestyle and wealth were recognised as staple features of the popular image. To a lesser degree, the experts also recognised alternative characteristics and behaviours, including people with disabilities and those who struggle financially. Conclusions: Experts appeared to identify with the popular baby boomer label, but not necessarily the accompanying stereotypes.

Objectives. To examine: (i) the extent to which victims of intimate partner abuse (IPA) use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and (ii) the effects of CAM on their mental health. Methods. Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for studies measuring the extent of CAM use amongst victims of IPA and trials assessing the impact of CAM on mental health amongst this population. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane collaboration tool. Results. No studies measuring the level of CAM use amongst IPA victims, and only three studies assessing the effect of CAM on the mental health of this population were identified. Two studies looked at yogic breathing, while one assessed the effect of music therapy. All three studies showed some beneficial effects; however, each had a small sample, brief intervention period, and no follow-up measurement and were considered to be at high risk of bias. Conclusions. The review found little evidence for the benefits of CAM for IPA victims. Findings suggest positive effects of music therapy and yogic breathing; however, methodological limitations mean that these results should be interpreted with caution. It is important that more research into the use and effects of CAM amongst this population are undertaken. © 2014 Luke Duffy et al.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines now recommend that women be asked about their past or current mental health as a routine component of maternity care. However, the value of this line of enquiry in increasing engagement with support services, as required, remains controversial. Aim: The current study aimed to examine whether assessment of past or current mental health, received with or without referral for additional support, is associated with help-seeking during pregnancy and the postpartum. Methods: A subsample of women drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (young cohort) who reported experiencing significant emotional distress during pregnancy (N = 398) or in the 12 months following birth (N = 380) participated in the study. Results: Multivariate analysis showed that women who were not asked about their emotional health were less likely to seek any formal help during both pregnancy (adjOR = 0.09, 95%CI: 0.04-0.24) and the postpartum (adjOR = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.02-0.13), as were women who were asked about these issues but who were not referred for additional support (antenatal: adjOR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.15-0.45; postnatal: adjOR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.07-0.27). However, considerable levels of consultation with general practitioners, midwives and child health nurses, even in the absence of referral, were evident. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that enquiry by a health professional about women's past or current mental health is associated with help-seeking throughout the perinatal period. The clinical and resource implications of these findings for the primary health care sector should be considered prior to the implementation of future routine perinatal depression screening or psychosocial assessment programmes. © 2014 Australian College of Midwives.

Objective To identify predictors of antenatal alcohol consumption among women who usually consume alcohol. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). Population or Sample A total of 1969 women sampled from the ALSWH 1973-78 cohort. Methods Women were included if they were pregnant in 2000, 2003, 2006 or 2009. The relationship between antenatal alcohol consumption and sociodemographics, reproductive health, mental health, physical health, health behaviours, alcohol guidelines and healthcare factors was investigated using a multivariate logistic regression model. Main outcome measures Alcohol use during pregnancy. Results Most (82.0%) women continued to drink alcohol during pregnancy. Women were more likely to drink alcohol during pregnancy if they had consumed alcohol on a weekly basis before pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] 1.47; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.13-1.90), binge drank before pregnancy (OR 2.28; 95% CI 1.76-2.94), or if they were pregnant while alcohol guidelines recommended low alcohol versus abstinence (OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.26-2.03). Drinking during pregnancy was less likely if women had a Health Care Card (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.45-0.88) or if they had ever had fertility problems (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.48-0.86). Conclusions Most Australian women who drank alcohol continued to do so during pregnancy. Prepregnancy alcohol consumption was one of the main predictors of antenatal alcohol use. Alcohol guidelines, fertility problems and Health Care Card status also impacted antenatal alcohol consumption. © 2013 RCOG.