Informed consent, based on patient autonomy, is seen as necessary if medical interventions are to be seen as legally and ethically acceptable. While 'informed consent' protocols within antenatal care, including prenatal screening regimes are presumed to be robust, emerging research outside of Australia suggests most women do not adequately understand the medical purpose, limitations or potential ethical implications, such as selective termination, of the medical procedures 'consented' to. While the consent given in these situations may well fulfil the minimal legal criteria for informed consent, the required level of knowledge and understanding necessary to meet the ethical standards informed or understood consent often appears not be met. The presumption that legally informed consent equates to morally informed consent inherent within institutional protocols for screening must therefore be questioned, and the ethical integrity of these increasingly routine interventions demand further scrutiny. The purpose of this research was to explore whether the problems identified in research overseas might also exist locally. Underpinned by a phenomenological philosophical approach to understanding the ethical dimensions of clinical practice, the research sought to engage with a small cohort of mothers and practitioners locally. The study adopted a qualitative narrative methodology, analysing individual in-depth interviews using the Listening Guide (Gilligan et al, 2003). The experiences of mothers and health practitioners interviewed exposed a range of institutional, social, personal and philosophical constraints that mirrored the overseas research findings and also illuminated how informed consent may be unintentionally undermined in the clinical setting. A positive outcome of the study was that it provided a locally informed and contextually sensitive basis from which to strengthen existing organisational informed consent protocols and thus support women's ethical decision making. As the process of becoming 'informed' to consent is largely educational, promoting patient learning in the clinical context is an ethical imperative. However, there seems limited awareness at either the clinical or theoretical level of the critical link between patient education and ethically robust medical intervention. Hence a significant contribution of this research was to explore this underdeveloped but practically important link. As the process of gaining informed consent has far reaching applications across a broad spectrum of medical interventions, the contextual and educational insights offered throughout this research may have significant relevance beyond the immediate context of this research.

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and behaviors of Emerging Adults relating to sexual consent, and how these ideas relate to an individual’s well-being. Specifically, this study used a survey that combined multiple questionnaires that were developed by the research team as well as an existing measure of consent: Sexual Consent Scale- Revised (Humphreys, T., & Brousseau, M. 2010). These questionnaires were used to answer the two questions that are the focus of this presentation and are of importance to schools, parents and family life educators: “How does an individual’s sexual behavior, beliefs or attitudes relate to individual wellbeing?” and “How does an individual’s sexual behavior relate to sexual consent?" This study was a preliminary look into sexual consent in emerging adulthood with a focus on wellbeing. The study included a total of 74 females (77.1%) and 21 males (21.9%); One (1%) participant identified as Other. The range of ages was 18-28, with a mean age of 20.14 years (SD 2.091). A total of 37 different majors were included (Undergraduate and Graduate). Most students indicated they were single (n=51, 56.6%) and 39 individuals indicated they were in a relationship (n=39, 43.3%). The two most important findings for this presentation are: There is an “Idealized” idea of sexual consent, disconnected from behavior, highlighted by the cognitive dissonance shown in responses to two items— 93% of individuals strongly agreed to the item: “I feel that sexual consent should always be obtained before the start of any sexual activity,” yet only 11% strongly agreed to the statement “I always verbally ask for consent before I initiate a sexual encounter” and the second important finding relates to the hypothesis— “As lack of perceived behavioral control increases, scores of assuming consent will also increase”. The data showed there is a significant, strong, positive relationship between behavioral control and assuming consent (r=.570, p=.000), indicating an important connection. This research is especially important in the current political/cultural climate—promoting sexual knowledge is becoming increasingly imperative for the overall wellbeing of individuals. The baseball model of getting to “bases” and “scoring” dominates US culture and may lead to ideas of competition versus ideas of mutual pleasure and enthusiastic consent. Educating families as well as youth is an important step to changing culture. Social Learning Theory provides a unique perspective in that both behavioral skills/practice and cognition need to be addressed in sex education in order to reinforce positive sexual consent behaviors. There is evidence that the time period from adolescence into emerging adulthood shows an increase in sexual risk taking, and the theory of Emerging Adulthood marks this time period as one of transitions and exploration (Arnett 2000, 2007). Educating youth before this time period may be key to promoting healthy behaviors. This study is an initial investigation into a complex topic that can be used to facilitate a discussion on sexual consent as well as the current implications for families and parents that need to educate their children about these topics.