Just Be Open About It or Turn Up the Radio: A Qualitative Analysis of Parent-Child Sexual Communication Experiences in Adolescence

College Women’s Memorable Sexual Messages From Mothers, Fathers, Friends/Peers, and Online Media: A Mixed-Methods Latent Class Analysis

“…This may be highlighting emerging adult women whose parents wish for them to not have sex but who still desire information about STI, pregnancy, and sexual violence avoidance. Many adolescents and emerging adults report being unable to ask parents for sexual health information out of fear of punishment, judgment, or parents jumping to conclusions about the child’s sexual activity (Astle, McAllister, et al, 2021; Coffelt, 2017; Goldfarb et al, 2018). Unfortunately, this becomes a barrier to seeking parental support after experiences of sexual assault, STI diagnosis, and homophobic or heterosexist discrimination (Astle, McAllister et al, 2021; Friedman & Morgan, 2009; Smith & Cook, 2008).…”

“…Adolescents whose parents talk with them about sex engage in fewer sexual risk-taking behaviors (Widman et al, 2016), especially when these conversations are open and interactive (Rogers et al, 2015). Most adolescents and emerging adults report receiving at least some messages related to sexuality from parents (Boone, 2015; Ritchwood et al, 2018), although discussions with parents about sexual topics are often minimal and not interactive (Astle, McAllister, et al, 2021; Holman & Kellas, 2018). However, when parents do engage in communication about sexual topics with children, they are most often discussing topics such as physical development, menstruation, condoms, birth control, STIs, dating/romantic relationships, abstinence, pregnancy, abuse, how to say no to sex, adolescent’s sexual activity (e.g., Are you having sex?…”

“…Most studies that examined the content of these discussions did not distinguish between messages received from mothers versus fathers, but some studies reported that for adolescent and emerging adult women, mothers are a primary source of sexual information and are often preferred to fathers in relaying sexual information (Astle, McAllister, et al, 2021; Flores & Barroso, 2017). When discussing sexuality with their child, mothers most commonly discuss topics of dating/relationships, abstinence, menstruation, pregnancy, birth control, and safety/protection (Boone, 2015; Kim & Ward, 2007; Lefkowitz & Espinosa-Hernandez, 2007) and do so more frequently with daughters compared to sons (Evans et al, 2019).…”

“…College-attending emerging adults are undergoing exploration of their sexual values, beliefs, and desires as they have novel educational, romantic, and sexual experiences in the new sexual landscape and cultures of college (Garcia et al, 2012; Halpern & Kaestle, 2014). The messages that young people receive about sexuality from various sources in their lives (e.g., parents, friends, media) can help prepare them for entering this time period of independence and exploration, but unfortunately many emerging adults report not receiving the sexual messages they need or needed to prepare them for making healthy sexual decisions in this life stage (Astle, McAllister, et al, 2021; Making Caring Common, 2018). The goal of this study was to explore the memorable messages related to sexuality that emerging adult women have received throughout their lifetime from parents, friends/peers, and online media in order to better understand the socialization that these young people are receiving in preparation for emerging adulthood.…”

The Examination of Young Mexican American Women’s Contraceptive Use

“…Also, to terrify their daughters into abstaining from sex, Latino parents engage in the "sex talk" with their daughters (Leavell et al, 2012). However, according to qualitative research conducted by Astle et al (2021), teenagers considered that fear techniques were unproductive and would not be effective in preventing sexual behavior.…”