Beyond the yes-no question: Measuring parent-adolescent communication about sex

Lefkowitz, Eva S.

doi:10.1002/cd.49

Cited by 51 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…It confirmed most conversations were about mundane and teenageroriented topics, while parents and teenagers did get along well and indicated to be interested in each other and in getting to know each other better. While literature tends to focus on topic-specific studies, such as sexuality [e.g., 10,11] or tobacco, alcohol, and drug use [e.g., 12], our study showed these are not the topics of everyday communication. Everyday communication appeared to be much more mundane, and we identified no major concerns in such everyday conversations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…There are many possible ways of studying parent-teenager communication, and in the past decades, researchers have acknowledged the advantages of new methods, such as observational methods (e.g., video-taped conversations) and ethnographic methods (e.g., interviews and focus groups) [11]. Also multiple perspectives within a study can give more reliable results, since parents' and teenagers' views on their communication tend to be different [33].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Self-report methods, such as diaries, can be useful to identify typical behavior and perception of communication [3]. Furthermore, diary studies can be used to have individual records, on a daily basis, of any instances of communication, about specific topics or communication in general [11]. By using diaries, reports from multiple family members can be compared and validated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surprisingly, despite the considerate amount of research on the importance of good communication habits for the child's development [e.g., 2,9] and specific processes of communication [e.g., 1,3], there is little information on the actual topics of conversation between teenagers and parents. Most research on parent-adolescent communication has used a topic-specific approach, in which data was collected on communication about a particular topic, especially health-related topics, such as sexuality [e.g., 10,11] or tobacco, alcohol, and drug use [e.g. , 12].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Her study with 1,124 teenagers showed that these topics include the parent-child relationship and getting to know their parents and their parents' past. These findings were taken as a starting point in our study that aimed at supporting communication between parents and young teenagers (aged [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Through the design of an interactive product, we aimed at facilitating parent-teenager communication about the parents' past.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes

Golsteijn

Hoven

2011

Pers Ubiquit Comput

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Because most teenagers strive for freedom and try to live autonomously, communication with their parents could be improved. It appeared from a literature review and a diary study that parent-teenager communication primarily addresses teenager-oriented everyday activities. However, it also showed teenagers have a substantial interest in getting to know their parents and their parents' past. The study described in this paper seeks to address this opportunity by designing a product for parents and teenagers that facilitates communication about the past of the parents. The resulting design, called Cueb, is a set of interactive digital photo cubes with which parents and teenagers can explore individual and shared experiences and are triggered to exchange stories. An evaluation of a prototype of Cueb with four families showed that the participants felt significantly more triggered and supported to share their experiences and tell stories with Cueb's full functionality (connecting cubes, switching, and locking photographs) than with limited functionality (shaking to display random photographs), similar to more traditional photo media.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes

Golsteijn

Hoven

2011

Pers Ubiquit Comput

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Perceptions of Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior Among Mothers Living With and Without HIV: Does Dyadic Sex Communication Matter?

et al. 2008

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Previous studies suggest that mothers can help adolescents make responsible sexual decisions by talking with them about sexual health. Yet, it is not clear how and when mothers make decisions about talking with their adolescents about sex. We sought to determine: (1) the accuracy of mothers' and adolescents' predictions of adolescents' age of sexual debut; and (2) if mothers' beliefs about their adolescents' sexual behavior affected the frequency of mother-adolescent communication about sexual topics and, in turn, if mother-adolescent communication about sexual topics affected mothers' accuracy in predicting adolescents' current and future sexual behavior. Participants were 129 urban, ethnic minority HIV-negative youth (52% male and 48% female; ages 10-14 years at baseline; ages 13-19 years at follow-up) and their mothers; 47% of mothers were HIV-positive. Most mothers and adolescents predicted poorly when adolescents would sexually debut. At baseline, mothers' communication with their early adolescents about sexual topics was not significantly associated with mothers' assessments of their early adolescents' future sexual behavior. At follow-up, mothers were more likely to talk with their adolescents about HIV prevention and birth control if they believed that their adolescents had sexually debuted, though these effects were attenuated by baseline levels of communication. Only one effect was found for adolescents' gender: mothers reported greater communication about sex with daughters. Studies are needed to determine how mothers make decisions about talking with their adolescents about sex, as well as to examine to what extent and in what instances mothers can reduce their adolescents' sexual risk behavior by providing comprehensive, developmentally appropriate sex education well before adolescents are likely to debut.

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Dutch Adolescents’ Everyday Expressions of Sexual Behavior Trajectories Over a 2-Year Period: A Mixed-Methods Study

2018

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Using an extended definition of sexuality, this mixed-methods study builds on existing research into adolescents' emergent sexual development by longitudinally examining adolescents' sexual behavior trajectories (i.e., from less to more intimate sexual behavior). Over a 2-year period, 45 adolescents (M age = 15.9 years) reported on their sexual behavior using questionnaires and on their everyday expressions of sexuality in the form of semi-structured diaries. Cluster analysis using the questionnaire data identified three sexual behavior trajectories: a non-sexually active trajectory (meaning no or minor sexual behavior) (n = 29), a gradually sexually active trajectory (meaning step-by-step sexual behavior development) (n = 12), and a fast sexually active trajectory (meaning rapid sexual behavior development) (n = 4). Qualitative analysis using diaries revealed the following themes: romantic versus sex-related topics, desires, uncertainties, and references to the social context. In general, all adolescents reported more about romantic aspects of sexuality (than about sexual acts) in the diaries, regardless of their sexual behavior trajectory. Sexually active adolescents (i.e., gradual and fast) were more concerned with sexuality in their diaries, especially more with the physical aspects of sexuality, than non-active adolescents. Gradual adolescents experienced more desires about physical sexual contact and reported fewer references to their social network than non-active and fast adolescents. The findings suggest that sexual education that discusses the internal experiences of sexuality, such as feelings and thoughts, particularly the romantic aspects, may help adolescents process their preferences for different sexual and romantic acts and may contribute to healthy sexual development.

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Beyond the yes-no question: Measuring parent-adolescent communication about sex

Cited by 51 publications

References 31 publications

Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes

Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes

Perceptions of Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior Among Mothers Living With and Without HIV: Does Dyadic Sex Communication Matter?

Dutch Adolescents’ Everyday Expressions of Sexual Behavior Trajectories Over a 2-Year Period: A Mixed-Methods Study

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