Parents Matter: A Descriptive Study of Parental Discussions With Teens About Violence Prevention and Related Topics

Abstract

In the current article we examined the extent to which parents and caregivers engage in violence prevention and related discussions with their youth and the correlates (i.e., demographics, confidence, modeling of emotion regulation) of these experiences. We also examined the ways in which parents access prevention-related information to aid in these discussions with their youth. Participants were 142 parents/caregivers of a middle or high school-aged youth. Results suggested that adults reported speaking with youth about less sensitive prevention topics (e.g., bullying) more often than more sensitive topics (e.g., sexual violence). Whereas there were no demographic correlates for the level of confidence in discussing prevention topics with youth, emotion regulation modeling was positively correlated with confidence discussing prevention with youth. Also, parents who identified as White were less likely to discuss more sensitive topics with youth while parents who identified as American Indian were more likely to discuss more sensitive topics with youth and model emotion regulation. Having more confidence discussing prevention with youth positively correlated to discussing more sensitive and less sensitive topics with youth. These results underscore the need for engaging parents in prevention programming. More specifically, these data suggest that programs that builds parents’ confidence and comfort in having prevention-related conversations with their youth, especially about more sensitive topics is needed in addition to programming that enhances parents’ ability to model emotion regulation skills for their children.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Engaging Significant Adults in Youth Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention Work

“…Notably, the experiences of adults from various racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups were central to the study using mixed methods including focus groups (Harris & Linder, 2017). Consistent with recent research by Edwards et al (2022) that found a strong desire among adults with youth in their lives to learn more about sensitive prevention topics like RSV, adults in the current pilot study consistently praised the utility of the DOT-A/F Workshop. Adults and youth found the workshop acceptable, perceived that it had positive impact, and was feasible.…”

“…These findings add to the growing body of research that suggests partnering with significant adults in the lives of youth may enhance prevention effectiveness and reduce youths' exposure to RSV (Edwards et al, 2022;Preble et al, 2018;Rizzo et al, 2020). Indeed, theories of prevention effectiveness like inoculation theory describe how families may be uniquely positioned to have the nuanced conversations about risky behavior that can promote healthy choices (Compton & Craig, 2019).…”

“…Lessons learned from other areas of prevention for adolescents (e.g., substance abuse and risky sexual behavior including teen pregnancy) highlight the importance of parents and other significant adults as prevention partners (Edwards et al, 2022). This work mainly documents how aspects of parent behavior including supervision and communication can be a risk or protective factor for adolescent risky behaviors.…”

“…Positive parent-child communication is also associated with lower sexual risk behaviors and dating violence among adolescents (Kast et al, 2016). Communication by adults about prevention is also a model for youth about how to talk about issues of concern, according to principles of social learning theory (Edwards et al, 2022). Further, "inoculation theory" describes how within families, more nuanced discussions, including arguments and counterarguments, of risky behaviors can be an effective prevention strategy for issues like substance use (Compton & Craig, 2019).…”

“…dating violence, sexual harassment, and suicide) (Edwards et al, 2022). Adults who expressed greater confidence in their abilities to have difficult conversations also reported having more frequent discussions of sensitive topics with the youth in their lives (Edwards et al, 2022). A next step is to examine how best to improve variables such as confidence among caregivers in having prevention discussions.…”