What are the most appropriate methodological approaches for researching the psychosocial determinants of health and wellbeing among young people from refugee backgrounds over the resettlement period? What kinds of research models can involve young people in meaningful reflections on their lives and futures while simultaneously yielding valid data to inform services and policy? This paper reports on the methods developed for a longitudinal study of health and wellbeing among young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia. The study involves 100 newly-arrived young people 12 to 18 years of age, and employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods implemented as a series of activities carried out by participants in personalized settlement journals. This paper highlights the need to think outside the box of traditional qualitative and/or quantitative approaches for social research into refugee youth health and illustrates how integrated approaches can produce information that is meaningful to policy makers, service providers and to the young people themselves.

The aim of this study was to identify the ways in which women from Turkish, second-generation Greek and Chilean backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia, understand risks to their sexual health with a focus on STDs including HIV/AIDS. Data were derived from in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 women from each ethnic group (N = 60). Interviews were guided by a theme list, conducted in the woman's language of preference, tape-recorded and fully transcribed. Transcripts were double coded for key themes and analysed using ethnographic content analysis. The key findings are that for many women, reducing the risk of STDs to protect their physical health introduces risks to their social health and to the well-being of their family and community. Thus, women place priority over the protection of their social health as opposed to their physical health. Despite specific cultural differences in understandings of sexual health risks and illnesses, all women shared gendered commonalities in the ways in which they contextualise STDs within the wider context of social relationships and their everyday life. We conclude by arguing for interventions that specifically take into account social models of risk in STD and HIV/AIDS prevention and we consider the practical implications of this for harm reduction strategies in multicultural societies such as Australia.

This article examines the changing nature of family values and expectations in relation to sexuality, gender roles, and health among Greek parents and their young adult sons and daughters living in Melbourne, Australia. Findings are reported from a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with 37 young adult Greek Australian men and women and 7 Greek parents as well as four focus group discussions with 25 parents. Key themes are compared in relation to the tensions relating to changing gender roles and expectations within the family and Greek community. Although these tensions can act as barriers to effective prevention strategies for young second-generation Greek adults, parents acknowledge the need for change to protect their children from HIV/AIDS and STDs. The results support the need for prevention strategies for STDs and HIV/AIDS that build on the importance of close family connections and deal with the tensions surrounding the changing ties that bind.