Maternal Expectations, Mother-Child Connectedness, and Adolescent Sexual Debut

Abstract

Perceived maternal disapproval of sexual intercourse, along with mother-child relationships characterized by high levels of warmth and closeness, may be important protective factors related to delay in adolescents' first sexual intercourse. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:809-816

The Parent-Child Relationship and Opportunities for Adolescents’ First Sex

“…Although several studies note mother-child connectedness delayed first sex for either boys or girls (e.g., Davis & Friel, 2001;Miller et al, 1997;Sieving et al, 2000), we found no direct effect of the mother-child relationship on first sex and only a modest indirect effect in the simultaneous equation model. And although Somers and Paulson (2000) note a link between paternal attachment and less frequent sexual behavior for adolescent boys and girls, we detected such a relationship only for girls (and that on lower risk of first sex, as distinct from "less frequent" sexual behavior).…”

Maternal Influences on Asian American—Pacific Islander Adolescents’ Perceived Maternal Sexual Expectations and Their Sexual Initiation

“…Specifically, promoting AAPI mothers’ perceptions of connectedness with their adolescents emerged as a promising element for adolescents to develop such expectancy. This finding is consistent with other research that found maternal connectedness is protective against adolescents’ risky behaviors (Hahm, Lahiff, & Guterman, 2003; Lam, Russell, Tan, & Leong, 2008; Sieving et al, 2000). Hence, intervention for delaying AAPI adolescents’ sexual initiation should aim to develop adolescents’ perceived expectancy by promoting mothers’ connectedness with their adolescents.…”

Parental communication and youth sexual behaviour

“…The results regarding communication about use of birth control and preventing STDs mirror those of other studies that have found an association between conversation about birth control or STDs and sexual activity (Hacker, Amare, Strunk, & Horst, 2000; Sieving et al, 2000). We do not know whether this is perceived as permission granted to the youth to become sexually active (Jaccard et al, 1998) or whether it reflects a parent recognized need triggered by the youth's sexual activity (Miller et al, 1998).…”