Parent-child Sexual Communication Research Articles

The vagina problem: a step too far in parent–child sex communication with young children

ABSTRACT Parents describe a want for better sex education for their young children compared to their own myth and silence-led experiences while growing up. However, introducing the vagina has proved a challenging step too far for many parents. This study arose from a secondary qualitative data analysis of 20 focus groups with parents in Ireland about how they engaged in body and sexuality communication and socialisation practices with young children, aged 4 to 9 years old. Though parents often utilised euphemisms, the language applied to male bodies tended to be generic, while euphemisms for female bodies tended to be family-specific. The language used in talking about the female body evaded reference to the vagina and talking about its functions. Protecting the child from knowledge about the sexual body was aligned with maintaining innocence and delaying the child’s transition to adulthood. Parents demonstrated a commitment to stop using myths but still placed boundaries around their young children’s sex education, albeit boundaries that were being redefined. Perpetuating intergenerational taboos, placing boundaries on knowledge of the sexual body, impacts a child’s ability to fully integrate their body into their sense of self.

Sexual Passion in Adolescence: Examining Its Transmission Through Mothers

ABSTRACT Sexual passion is an important element of adult romantic relationships, but little is known about how it is developed or expressed during adolescence. From a Self Determination Theory perspective, this study explored the connections between parents’ sexual passion and children’s sexual passion, and whether these links were mediated by parents’ communication about sexuality with their children. Using a diverse sample of 484 mother-adolescent dyads (Mage = 14.48, SD = 1.68, 50% female, 56% White), we specified a path model in a Structural Equation Modeling framework to test hypothesized associations. Results indicated that all three types of parent sexual passion – harmonious, obsessive, and inhibited – were positively associated with children’s sexual passion in the same domains. Additionally, the frequency of parent-child sexual communication partially mediated the transmission of harmonious passion, whereas controlling parent-child sexual communication partially mediated the transmission of obsessive passion. These findings highlight the importance of parents’ sexual relationships in the sexual socialization and development of adolescents. Additionally, helping parents to have more frequent conversations about sex with their children could help facilitate the transmission of harmonious sexual passion.

‘Parents are gudlists!’ Experiences of puberty and parent-child sexual communication in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

This paper explores young people’s experiences of puberty and their perspectives on parent-child sexual communication in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal. In-depth individual interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory visual research methodology were employed with 18 and 19-year-old young women (n = 30) and young men (n = 16) attending three primary health care facilities and a local high school in Jozini municipality. The findings suggest a complex interplay between unequal gender and socio-cultural norms that results in divergent puberty experiences and ambiguous and inconsistent patterns of parent-child sexual communication. Young people referred to their parents as gudlists, a local colloquialism for someone who is evasive, vague, ambiguous and indirect. Lack of open parent-child sexual communication hinders discussion of healthy sexuality, neglecting the sexual and reproductive health education and needs of young people. Reflective of their desire for change, young women in particular contest current parenting norms and suggest returning to cultural practices linked to traditional forms of courtship and sexual communication among young Zulu people.

Facilitating parent-child sexual health communication: Recommendations from the New Brunswick “Ask Me Anything” survey

New Brunswick has high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies among youth, indicative of high-risk sexual behaviours. Positive parent-child sexual health communication can help youth develop healthy sexual practices, though a lack of available resources to support caregivers in their role as sexual health educators for their children has been reported. This study investigated the current sexual health education practices and needs of parents, step-parents, and guardians to inform the development and/or adaptation of resources to support parents as sexual health educators. Parents, step-parents, and guardians were recruited via email, social media, and poster-based outreach ( N = 5,462). Using the “Ask Me Anything” survey containing 41 items, participants’ demographic characteristics, current sexual health education practices, and sexual health education needs were captured. Descriptive statistics analyzed demographic characteristics and survey variables. Most participants indicated that they were primarily responsible for children’s sexual health education and felt they had sufficient knowledge and comfort to provide it. Parents reported communicating about sexual health a moderate amount with their children and were ambivalent about their satisfaction with existing resources and the sexual health education provided in schools. One-third of participants expressed needing more resources to support school-based education and to identify age-appropriate topics. Understanding parental needs and attitudes regarding sexual health education highlights opportunities for improvement by provincial health authorities and school districts. Recommendations to support the development of resources to address the specific needs of New Brunswick parents and guardians are suggested.

Parent-child quality of sex-related communication before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research on parent–child sexual communication has increased in recent years, but we know almost nothing about whether parents correctly perceive the quality of sex-related communication with their children. In the present study, I investigated by longitudinal research whether parents correctly perceive the quality of sex-related communication with their children, whether COVID-19 affects the quality of sex-related communication between parents and children, and the congruence in the perceptions of this quality. The sample comprised 300 Israeli families [triad of mothers, fathers, and one adolescent (39% boys, 61% girls; age 14–18)]. Results indicate that adolescents reported more dysfunctional parent–child communication about sex with their fathers, especially within father-son relationships. Moreover, I found that parent–child congruence was surprisingly high and highly dependent on parents’ and children’s gender and the family’s religiosity. The COVID-19 pandemic positively affected father-child communication, supposedly because of greater paternal involvement. These findings highlight an important and understudied topic in the hope of motivating additional researchers and practitioners to adopt a familial, microsystem perspective on healthy sexual development. This view holds great promise in promoting normal sexual development and decreasing risky sexual behaviors.

Sexual health communication among Black father-daughter dyads: A grounded theory study.

Black young adults have disproportionately high rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared with the national average. Although parent-child sexual health communication among Black families has been shown to reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors, far less is known about father-daughter sexual health communication when compared with communication among gender-congruent dyads and mothers. This dearth of knowledge hinders the development of sexual health interventions involving fathers that are sensitive to both the gendered and cultural context. Using constructivist-grounded theory, the present study explores the context surrounding sexual health communication between Black women aged 19-21 (M = 20.3) years and their biological fathers aged 52-60 (M = 56.7) years. Seven father-daughter (N = 7) dyads and an additional five (N = 5) daughters completed individual in-depth semistructured interviews lasting on average 84 min in length. Analysis revealed several social, cultural, and familial contexts impacting father-daughter communication, in addition to factors that either motivate or hinder communication. Daughters who did not engage in sexual health communication with their fathers expressed an interest in doing so, and participants highlighted varying behavioral, emotional, and relational outcomes resulting from father-daughter sexual health communication or the lack thereof. Study findings can inform future intervention development and strengthen the positive role fathers play in ensuring daughters' healthy sexual development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Profiles of parent–child sex communication as a function of timing, frequency and quality

ABSTRACT This study used a person-centred approach to consider profiles of parent–child sex communication. We sought to determine whether profiles of sex communication were distinguishable from one another based on aspects of both the parent and the child. Participants included 596 US young people (51% female at birth; Mage = 14.55, SD = 1.70, 56% white), and their mother (n = 596; Mage = 41.23, SD = 8.18; 64% white) and father (n = 354; Mage = 43.44, SD = 8.56; 62% white) figures. Analyses suggested three profiles of parent–child sex communication with mothers and four with fathers. Patterns were similar across profiles, with variation being primarily the degree to which parents reported timing, frequency and quality of communication. Parents who more strongly endorsed proactive and reactive parenting, and who reported more frequent and open conversations with their children were warmer and had higher levels of self-efficacy. They also had children who were more sexually active, but who had healthier sexual outcomes. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering multiple aspects of parent–child sex communication and highlights the importance of continuing to empower parents to discuss sex and sexuality with their children.

“A Different Perspective”: Topics Discussed During African American Father-Daughter Sexual Health Communication

<i>African American youth and young adults are disproportionately burdened by HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Although African American parent-child sexual health communication has been shown to reduce adolescent sexual risk-taking behavior, much more is known about mother-child and father-son sexual health communication than father-daughter sexual health communication. The current study explores what sexual health topics African American father-daughter dyads discuss with one another, and which topics are perceived to have the greatest impact on youths’ sexual risk behavior. Seven father-daughter dyads (N=7) and an additional five daughters (n=5) completed individual in-depth semi structured interviews. Daughters were aged 19-21 (M=20.3) years and fathers were aged 52-60 (M=56.7) years. Thematic analysis revealed five themes including: challenging topics to discuss, easy topics to discuss, topics on the continuum, desired topics of communication, and topics with greatest impact on behavior. Although participants shared that discussing sexual health is considered culturally taboo and can be challenging when criticized, several topics were easy to discuss universally, and several topics were both challenging and easy to discuss depending on the context of the conversation and depth of content covered. Sexual health communication was largely perceived as positively impacting daughters’ behaviors and daughters expressed wanting to have these conversations. Study findings can inform future intervention development by indicating which sexual health topics should be prioritized during father-daughter communication given their perceived positive impact. Future research is needed to explore how best to support father-daughter dyads in discussing sexual health topics perceived as challenging.  </i>

Prevalence of HIV testing and associated factors among young adolescents in Eswatini: a secondary data analysis

BackgroundHIV testing is a crucial starting point for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest global HIV/AIDS prevalence and mortality, yet HIV testing remains sub-optimal. Thus, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of HIV testing and associated factors among young adolescents aged 10 to 14 years in Eswatini, a country with the highest HIV prevalence in the world.MethodsData were obtained from Swaziland HIV Incidence Measurement Survey between 2016 and 2017 (SHIMS 2), an internationally supported national survey aimed at combating HIV/AIDS. A total of 739 young adolescents aged 10 to 14 years were selected for the final analysis after deleting cases with missing values for the key variables. The effects of demographic characteristics, HIV knowledge, HIV risk perception, belief about HIV testing, perceived service accessibility, and parent-child sexual and reproductive health communication on lifetime HIV testing as an outcome variable, were explored using multivariable logistic regression.ResultsOnly 52.0% of young adolescents reported “ever tested” for HIV in their lifetime. Age (OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.73–0.90), residence (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.43–0.74), and perceived service accessibility (OR = 3.10, (95% CI = 1.47–6.56) were identified as important factors associated with receiving HIV testing among young adolescents.ConclusionsA low rate of HIV testing was identified among young adolescents in Eswatini compared to the intended global goal of HIV testing coverage. Our findings suggested the importance of young adolescent-friendly educational and environmental interventions needed to improve the prevalence of HIV testing by reducing misperceptions about the risk of HIV and alleviating environmental constraints to access to HIV services.

“Whenever You’re Ready to Talk about It”: Prompts and Barriers to Inclusive Family Sex Communication with Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Sons

Despite growing evidence that parent-child sex communication (PCSC) is a positive strategy for adolescent sexual health outcomes, there is little research about what prompts and impedes these conversations among parents of gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) adolescent sons. Using interview data from a multi-method qualitative study, we analyzed parental perspectives (N = 15) on non-heteronormative sex communication with GBQ adolescent sons. Our results revealed that parents are most likely to engage in sex communication if they established open communication with their child, accepted their child’s sexual orientation, encouraged safe sex practices, and were knowledgeable about LGBTQ issues. Conversely, parents who experience communication discomfort were unable to engage in inclusive and comprehensive sex conversations, thus creating a barrier to effective sex-positive communication. These findings have implications for future research and interventions that promote parents’ ability to successfully facilitate conversations about sexual health with their sexuality diverse children.

Existing Practicies of Parent-child Communication on Sex-related Matters among Households in Ondo State, Nigeria

Adolescents' sexual and reproductive health remain global public health concerns particularly in Sub-Saharan. Undoubtedly, parent-child communication remains a vital means by which parents transmit cultural values and monitor the sexual health of their children. The nature and the quality of sexual conversations that subsist in the family are critical factors in the prevention of sexual risk-taking behaviour among adolescents. Therefore, this paper investigated the existing practices of parent-child communication on sex-related matters among households in Ondo State among the triads of parents and their adolescent children and the implications for adolescents’ sexual health in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study elicited data from 483 respondents comprising fathers, mothers and their adolescents; through a multi-stage sampling technique. First, the study found that for most of the respondents (fathers 56.5%, mothers 54.7% and adolescents 60.2%) sexual conversations are occasional; second, mothers often initiate sex-related discussion with children more than fathers; third, sexual conversations are generally not open and receptive; fourth, content of parent-child sexual communication chiefly centre on admonitions against premarital sex; fifth, mothers discuss more sexual topics with the adolescent children than fathers. Sixth, discussion about contraceptive with adolescents is a topic which majority of households in the state avoid. Lastly, many parents still have inhibitions discussing sex-related issues with adolescents. There's need for interventions that target parents enlightenment and education and addressing cultural norms that impede parent-child sexual conversations; in order to reposition families for parent-child communication that is open, receptive, sequential and time sensitive; conversations about sexual development and decision-making that enhance adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

“I Wish They Would Have a Class for Parents About Talking to Their Kids About Sex”: College Women’s Parent–child Sexual Communication Reflections and Desires

“I Wish They Would Have a Class for Parents About Talking to Their Kids About Sex”: College Women’s Parent–child Sexual Communication Reflections and Desires

Self of the parent: An expanded social cognitive perspective on parent–child sexual communication

AbstractCommon theories used to study parent–child sexual communication (PCSC) often do not account for social location, trauma, and the multidimensional experience of being a parent, limiting our ability to understand PCSC behavior. To address this gap, we propose an expanded theoretical perspective based on social cognitive theory (SCT) that focuses on the relationship between self of the parent (including trauma history), PCSC behavior, and social location. With this perspective, we call attention to the SCT concepts of goals, outcome expectancies, self‐efficacy, and observational learning, directly apply them to PCSC processes, and highlight how each is related to social location (e.g., race) and trauma. We call upon PCSC researchers to explore how social location and trauma affect a wide variety of components of self of the parent, how social location and trauma affect PCSC behavior, and how social location and trauma affect the relationship between self of parent and PCSC behavior.

Parent-child communication and adolescent sexual decision making: An application of family communication patterns theory.

Family communication patterns theory proposes two dimensions of family communication-conversation orientation and conformity orientation-that can impact adolescent decision making. The purpose of this study is to examine how family communication patterns, above and beyond the frequency of parent-child sexual communication, are associated with adolescents' (a) sexual self-efficacy, (b) intentions to communicate about sex with partners, and (c) intentions to use condoms. Participants were 452 U.S. adolescents (Mage = 15.06; 59% girls; 35% White, 33% Latinx, 25% Black). Controlling for the frequency of parent-child sexual communication and gender, we found the interaction between conversation and conformity orientation was associated with adolescent sexual self-efficacy and intentions to communicate about sex with partners. When families were high on conversation and low on conformity, adolescents had statistically significantly higher sexual self-efficacy than any other family communication patterns. When families were low on conversation and low on conformity, adolescents had statistically significantly lower intentions to communicate with future sex partners than any other family communication pattern. Findings highlight the importance of understanding general communication processes beyond the frequency of parent-child sexual communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Tell Me More: Parent–Child Sexual Talk and Young Adult Sexual Communication Satisfaction with Romantic Partners

Young adults (18–30) tend to show insufficient levels of communication about sex with their romantic partners, despite its many benefits to relationships among this age group. Learned sexual shame and guilt can play a role in inhibiting sexual communication with partners, and early messages about sex from parents stemming from narrow cultural boundaries of communication may play a role in fostering sexual shame and guilt from a young age, potentially influencing later sexual communication patterns with partners. We sought to identify whether a significant relationship existed between the sexual communication participants received from parents while growing up and their current sexual communication satisfaction, relational satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction with romantic partners. Path analysis revealed a significant, positive link between parent–child sexual communication and current partner sexual communication satisfaction while controlling for all other variables and length of relationship. ANOVA analyses revealed greater reported sex guilt among males and highly religious participants. Correlation and regression analyses yielded significant, positive relationships between former parent–child communication quality and current young adult sexual satisfaction with partner. Clinical implications and research directions are discussed for increasing open parent–child sex communication.

Parent-Child Sexual Communication Frequency and Adolescent Disclosure to Mothers About Sexuality: The Moderating Role of Open Communication in a Common Fate Structural Equation Model

ABSTRACT Although frequent and open parent–child sexual communication (PCSC) has been shown to yield positive effects on adolescent sexual health outcomes, most PCSC is one-sided and parent dominated rather than ideal communication characterized by openness. Adolescent children’s disclosure of sexual feelings and behaviors to parents can prompt parent–child sexual communication (PCSC) and help parents tailor PCSC to children’s needs, increasing the effectiveness of PCSC in promoting positive sexual outcomes. However, very little work has been done exploring correlates of adolescent disclosure about sexuality. Thus, the current study explored the associations between frequent PCSC and child disclosure and secret keeping, and whether open PCSC moderated the relationships. The sample included 603 mother–child dyads from the United States. Adolescent children were 12–17 years old (M = 14.55, SD = 1.68), White (55.6%) and cisgender female (49.8%). A common-fate SEM model revealed that PCSC frequency was positively associated with adolescent disclosure and adolescent secret keeping. However, when PCSC was open, PCSC frequency was associated with a decrease in adolescent secret keeping and an increase in adolescent disclosure. We discuss the importance of encouraging both open and frequent PCSC, as their interaction is related to increased adolescent disclosure and less adolescent secret keeping.

Parent-Child Sex Communication Prompts, Approaches, Reactions, and Functions According to Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Sons

Minimal research on parent-child sex communication between parents and gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) adolescent sons prevents the formulation of interventions that would buffer or brake this youth population’s risks for HIV/STI. We sought to describe the perspectives of GBQ adolescent males on this process and the potential ways they think parents can address their sons’ informational needs, including countering youth access of sexually explicit media. We conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with GBQ male youth aged 15–20 years. Thematic and content analysis revealed four central themes: prompts and triggers, parents’ approaches, sons’ reactions, and the functions assigned to sex communication. Parents can be sources of reliable sexual health information and may be leveraged for future HIV/STI risk reduction work.

Encouraging Parental Sexual Communication with Teen Sons: A Social Norms Experiment

ABSTRACT Parent-child sexual communication is associated with myriad positive sex-related outcomes for young people, but these conversations tend to be infrequent and limited in scope. Using the Social Norms Approach, we hypothesized that learning that other parents talk with their children about sex-related topics would motivate parents to talk about more sex-related topics with their son. In an online experiment, parents in the United States (N = 378) with a son aged 13–16 were asked how many of 30 sex-related topics they had discussed with their son after exposure to one of the two SNA messages or a control. A 30-day follow-up study repeated these questions. The experiment revealed no significant differences between the three conditions, but all three conditions resulted in greater intentions to discuss more topics with their son in the future. Regardless of condition, parents who identify their sons as gay or bisexual talked about more sex-related topics than parents of sons who identify their sons as straight. The results from this study suggest that social norms messages are not more effective at increasing parents’ communication intentions. Parents in all conditions planned to discuss more sex-related topics with their son, suggesting that simply bringing these topics to parents’ attention may be enough to increase intentions to have these conversations. Findings are discussed in light of motivating and equipping parents to handle these conversations and tailoring educational materials for parents based on their child’s sexual and romantic orientation.

The Examination of Young Mexican American Women’s Contraceptive Use

The purpose of this paper is to review all literature on young Mexican American women’s contraceptive use practices in the U.S. to provide an overall picture of the largest Hispanic subgroup. We also discuss how sex education is important to contraceptive use and how parent-child sex communication takes place among young women of this specific population.

To Talk or Not to Talk: An Analysis of Parents’ Intentions to Talk with Children About Different Sexual Topics Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

Parents’ intentions to engage in parent-child sexual communication (PCSC) are largely understudied, especially when children are young. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aimed to explore what factors are associated with parental intentions to talk with their children about different sexual topics. A sample of 561 parents of an oldest child between the ages of 6 and 11 were recruited to complete a survey through Prolific.co between December 2019 and January 2020. Results of a path analysis showed that all components of the TPB (attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy) were significantly associated with parents’ intentions to talk to their children about at least three of the five categories of sexual topics (“the basics,” “pleasure,” “sex in relationships,” “gender identity/sexual orientation,” and the “religious meaning of sex”). Of these components, self-efficacy was most consistently and strongly associated with increased intentions to discuss all topics, followed by the attitude of believing sex education was the parents’ responsibility. These findings support the assumptions of the TPB as applied to PCSC. These findings suggest that building self-efficacy and helping parents feel responsible for educating their children about sex would be most important in attempting to increase parental intentions to engage in PCSC on a wide variety of topics. Funding for parent-targeted programming should be allocated to increase parent intentions to engage in PCSC. This programming should focus on helping parents develop self-efficacy and a sense of responsibility for educating children about multiple sexual topics.