October 16, 2006
UNB Fredericton News Release: D748
Natalie Montgomery, Communication Officer (506) 453-4990

“You just don’t understand!”

“I just don’t understand!”

These statements of frustration often end adolescent/parent conversations, especially if the topic is sex. Parents tend to characterize adolescents’ sexual experiences as negative, even dangerous. Young people tend to focus on the positive aspects of sexual experience. As a result, parents’ efforts to delay, prevent or suppress their teens’ transition to sexual experience are often stymied.

Lucia O’Sullivan, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Adolescents’ Sexual Health Behaviour in the University of New Brunswick’s department of psychology, has insight that may well help parents, counselors and others understand their adolescents and avoid dead-end conversations about sex. As keynote speaker at the university’s Emerging Issues in Psychology conference, she will share this insight on Thursday evening, Oct. 19 at 7 o’clock in room 103 of Kierstead Hall. The title of her lecture is Adolescent Sexual Risk: Challenging assumptions, biases and conjecture.

Among the other topics to be discussed at the Emerging Issues conference that runs until 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 are juror decisions in recovered memory cases, attachment and emotional intelligence, and autism.

Using presentations, poster sessions and roundtable discussions, researchers at UNB will showcase their research as well as their contributions toward solutions to psychological and social issues. Registration takes place at 6:30 Thursday evening and 8:15 Friday morning in Kierstead Hall, on the Fredericton campus.

A reception follows Dr. O’Sullivan’s keynote address and everyone is welcome. Lunch and snacks will be provided on Friday. To register or for more information, contact Theresa Sherwood at 506-453-4707 or Carmen Poulin at carmen@unb.ca.

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