Mothers’ influence on the timing of first sex among 14- and 15-year-olds

McNeely, Clea; Shew, Marcia L.; Beuhring, Trisha; Sieving, Renee E.; Miller, Brent C.; Blum, Robert W.

doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(02)00350-6

Cited by 171 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Both the weakening of parental influences and the fact that romantic involvement and sexual experiences are normative parts of middle and late adolescent development could explain the decreasing links with age. The stronger link between parent-child relations and age of first sexual intercourse in females, as compared to males, was also found in earlier studies (Davis and Friel, 2001;De Graaf et al 2011;McNeely et al 2002;Rose et al 2005). This finding can be explained by the theory of female erotic plasticity (Baumeister 2000), which states that female sexuality is more susceptible to social influences than male sexuality, whereas male sexuality is more directly tied to biological factors.…”

Section: Family Cohesion and The Timing Of Romantic And Sexual Initiasupporting

confidence: 64%

“…In addition, females generally appear to be more affected by relationships than boys (Rose and Rudolph 2006). Previous research already showed that parental influences on sexual behavior tend to be stronger for girls, compared to boys (Davis and Friel 2001;De Graaf et al 2011;McNeely et al 2002;Rose et al 2005). We therefore expect to find stronger links between family cohesion on the one hand and romantic and sexual initiation on the other hand for females than for males.…”

Section: Goals and Hypotheses Of The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 75%

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Family Cohesion and Romantic and Sexual Initiation: A Three Wave Longitudinal Study

Graaf

Schoot

Woertman

et al. 2011

J Youth Adolescence

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Although the relation between family relationships and the timing of sexual debut has been the focus of many studies, research on mediating factors is scarce. This study examines whether low levels of family cohesion result in an earlier onset of romantic and sexual experiences, and whether the link between family cohesion and an early sexual debut is mediated by early romantic initiation. A longitudinal sample of 314 adolescent girls and 222 boys, aged 12-17 at Wave 1, completed questionnaires at three measurement points with three year intervals. The results showed that sexual debut followed romantic initiation for 77% of the participants. For early adolescent females (aged 12-14), high levels of family cohesion resulted in a later sexual debut and this association was fully mediated by a delay of romantic initiation. Among boys and older girls, timing of romantic initiation did not mediate the link between family cohesion and timing of sexual initiation. Early adolescent girls who have negative relationships with their parents turn to romantic relationships for intimacy and support, which subsequently provide the opportunity for an early sexual debut. Low levels of family cohesion thus primarily precipitate romantic initiation and sexual initiation appears to be secondary to this process among girls in this age group.

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Section: Family Cohesion and The Timing Of Romantic And Sexual Initiasupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Goals and Hypotheses Of The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 75%

Family Cohesion and Romantic and Sexual Initiation: A Three Wave Longitudinal Study

Graaf

Schoot

Woertman

et al. 2011

J Youth Adolescence

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“…Past research indicates that male parents/ guardians are less likely than female parents/ guardians to be involved in the sexual health education of their youth (Dyson & Smith, 2012;McNeely et al, 2002). Yet, our study does not support a gender disparity, as fathers or male guardians made up just over one third of our sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Today we are not good at talking about these things”: A mixed methods study of Inuit parent/guardian-youth sexual health communication in Greenland

Rink¹,

Montgomery-Andersen²,

Anastario³

2014

IJIH

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Some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are reported in the Arctic. For example, the Inuit youth of Greenland have the highest STI rates in the circumpolar region. In this study, we used a mixed method approach to examine parent/guardian-youth communication about STIs and other sexual health topics. The quantitative component of the study involved the parents/guardians completing a brief questionnaire while the qualitative component involved their participation in focus groups. Parents/guardians reported that, although they found little difficulty communicating with youth in general, this was not the case for sexual topics. Similarly, parents/guardians reported a lack of communication about topics such as masturbation, why people engage in sex, and what it feels like to have sex. In general parents/guardians stated that it is uncomfortable for them to talk with their youth about sexual matters. At the same time, they are concerned about the high rates of unwanted pregnancy in their communities, and they would like to see more collaborative partnerships aimed at increasing sexual health education for youth. Future STI prevention efforts in Greenland would benefit from involving Greenlandic youth and their families in the design of community-based sexual health education programs that increase communication skills in families about topics related to sex. Community based efforts that involve families and empower them to educate their youth around STI risk-prevention behaviours is a necessary area of future development in Greenland.

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“…We also tested gender-interaction effects (ie, gender × mother-adolescent relationships, gender × fatheradolescent relationships), to assess whether the found effects from the stratified analyses were indeed really statistically different for boys and girls. All regression models included the following potential confounders: gender, 39 age, 39 educational level, 19, ethnic background, 42 family structure, 42 -44 and parental monitoring. 45 -47 A significance level of P < .05 was used to indicate significant effects.…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother– and Father–Adolescent Relationships and Early Sexual Intercourse

et al. 2016

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OBJECTIVES: To assess the prospective associations between mother-adolescent and fatheradolescent relationship quality and early sexual intercourse initiation (ie, ≤16 years) among a large sample of Dutch adolescents. METHODS:Two waves of data from the Rotterdam Youth Monitor, a longitudinal study in the Netherlands, were used. The analysis sample consisted of 2931 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years (Mean age@T1 = 12.5 years, SD = 0.61; Mean age@T2 = 14.3 years, SD = 0.60). Variables were assessed by means of self-report questionnaires. Prospective associations between mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships and early sexual initiation were assessed by logistic regression analyses, stratified by gender, controlling for various potential confounders. RESULTS:We found that only girls (not boys) having a higher-quality relationship with mothers were significantly less likely to have initiated early sexual intercourse between T1 and T2. Bivariate findings showed that both girls and boys having a higher-quality relationship with their father at T1 were significantly less likely to have engaged in early sexual intercourse between T1 and T2, but when assessed multivariately, these associations were no longer significant, neither for boys nor for girls. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that a higher-quality relationship between adolescents and their parents, especially between mothers and daughters, may help to protect against early sexual initiation. Pediatricians and other health care professionals should be able to explain to parents that early sexual intercourse initiation can be associated with negative health outcomes, but that parents can play an important role in promoting healthy sexual behaviors.

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Mothers’ influence on the timing of first sex among 14- and 15-year-olds

Cited by 171 publications

References 29 publications

Family Cohesion and Romantic and Sexual Initiation: A Three Wave Longitudinal Study

Family Cohesion and Romantic and Sexual Initiation: A Three Wave Longitudinal Study

“Today we are not good at talking about these things”: A mixed methods study of Inuit parent/guardian-youth sexual health communication in Greenland

Mother– and Father–Adolescent Relationships and Early Sexual Intercourse

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