Quality of Mother‐Child Interaction, Differences in Sexual Attitudes, and Inter‐generational Disagreement on Sexuality

Abstract

The current paper examines the frequency of inter‐generational disagreement reported by mothers and adolescents as a function of the quality of their interaction, and the match between their sexual attitudes. We expected that the quality of family interaction would act as a “family asset” that would enable members of families to manage and control the tensions caused by differences in (sexual) attitudes. Data on 319 British adolescent‐mother pairs were analysed using structural equation modelling, revealing good support for these expectations: differences in sexual attitudes were more strongly linked to inter‐family disagreement in low quality of mother‐child interaction families than in high quality of mother‐child interaction families. Implications of the study are discussed.