Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters: gender differences in factors associated with parent-child communication about sexual topics

Abstract

BackgroundIn the United States, nearly half of high school students are sexually active, and adolescents experience high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Parents can have an important influence on their children's sexual behaviour, but many parents do not talk with their children about sexual topics. Research has shown significant differences in parent-child communication about sexual topics depending on the gender of both the parent and the child. Little is known, however, about the reasons for these gender differences. The purpose of this paper is to describe how factors associated with parent-child communication about sexual topics differ by gender.MethodsData are from a nationwide online survey with 829 fathers and 1,113 mothers of children aged 10 to 14. For each of the four gender groups (fathers of sons, fathers of daughters, mothers of sons, mothers of daughters), we calculated the distribution of responses to questions assessing (1) parent-child communication about sex-related topics, and (2) factors associated with that communication. We used chi-square tests to determine whether the distributions differed and the false discovery rate control to reduce the likelihood of type I errors.ResultsWith both sons and daughters, fathers communicated less about sexual topics than mothers did. Fathers also had lower levels of many characteristics that facilitate communication about sex (e.g., lower self-efficacy and lower expectations that talking to their children about sex would have positive outcomes). Compared with parents of sons, parents of daughters (both mothers and fathers) talked more about sexual topics, were more concerned about potential harmful consequences of sexual activity, and were more disapproving of their child having sex at an early age.ConclusionsUsing a large national sample, this study confirms findings from previous studies showing gender differences in parent-child communication about sexual topics and identifies gender differences in factors that may influence parent-child communication about sexual topics. Interventions designed to support parent-child communication about sexual topics should emphasize to both mothers and fathers the importance of talking to sons as well as daughters. Fathers need particular support to overcome the barriers to communication they encounter.

Consequence‐based communication about adolescent romantic experience between parents and adolescents: A qualitative study underpinned by social constructionism

“…Parents demonstrated gender‐biased communication, in which they mainly spoke with their daughters about prohibitive sexual engagement. This finding supports previous reports in which female adolescents were the main focus of sexual communication in the USA (Wilson & Koo, ; Trinh et al ., ) and other Asian countries (Trinh et al , ; Zuo et al ., ). The gender‐biased parental communication in this study reinforces the traditional and stereotypical norms in sexual behavior, characterized by female premarital chastity and giving boys permission in Chinese society (Cui et al ., ).…”

“…Some studies focused on several specific topics, such as contraception, family planning, and abortion to explore participants' perspectives using qualitative approaches, mainly in Western countries (Akers et al , ; Sisco et al , ). Other studies applied surveys to describe factors associated with communication about specific sexual topics, such as abstinence, puberty, reproduction, birth, STI, dating and relationships (Wilson & Koo, ; Askelson et al , ).…”

Nurses on the Front Lines

“…55, 56 Yet many parents do not communicate with adolescents because of embarrassment, lack of confidence, and uncertainty about what to say. 57 Implementing a brief and effective intervention such as the FTT model is a way to improve parent–child communication and effectively monitor adolescent behavior, leading to delayed sexual debut and reduced frequency of sex. 58, 59 FTT provides guidance to nurses on topics to cover with parents to facilitate effective parent–child sexual health communication that takes the youth perspective into consideration.…”

Community embedded reproductive health interventions for adolescents in Latin America: development and evaluation of a complex multi-centre intervention

“…Open communication at the family level can help to encourage adolescents to approach health care providers with questions and concerns related to their SRH [16] as well as encourage healthy sexual behaviour more generally [15,17,18]. Allen et al found that adolescent girls who communicate easily with their mothers were considerably less likely to become pregnant [19] and Wilson et al reported that open communication with parents led to postponed sexual debut and fewer unwanted pregnancies [20]. In semi-structured interviews conducted in the pre-intervention phase of Project CERCA, parents, young people, teachers and health providers in all three project sites acknowledged the difficulty and cultural taboos that prohibit the discussion of sex and sexuality within families, at school, and in the community as a whole.…”