Sexual Communication Between Early Adolescents and Their Dating Partners, Parents, and Best Friends

Abstract

This study assessed early adolescents' sexual communication with dating partners, parents, and best friends about six sexual health topics: condoms, birth control, STDs, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, and abstinence/waiting. Using a school-based sample of 603 youth (ages = 12–15; 57% female; 46% Caucasian), we examined communication differences across demographic and developmental factors, tested whether communication with parents and best friends was associated with greater communication with partners, and examined associations between communication and condom use. Over half of participants had not discussed any sexual topics with their dating partners (54%), and many had not communicated with parents (29%) or best friends (25%). On average, communication was more frequent among adolescents who were female, African American, older, and sexually active, despite some variation in subgroups across partner, parent, and friend communication. Importantly, communication with parents and friends – and the interaction between parent and friend communication – was associated with increased communication with dating partners. Further, among sexually active youth, increased sexual communication with partners was associated with more frequent condom use. Results highlight the importance of understanding the broader family and peer context surrounding adolescent sexual decision-making and suggest a possible need to tailor sexual communication interventions.

Determinants and Correlates of Preventive Behaviors at First Sex With a First Partner and Second Partner: Analysis of the FECOND Study

“…Numerous studies have documented the role of parental communication on teen sexual and reproductive health outcomes. 22,23 We found that girls who were comfortable talking to their mother about sexuality were more likely to use effective contraception though the same was not true for boys. These results suggest a lack of effective communication between parents and adolescent males on sexual and reproductive health issues – particularly around pregnancy prevention that results in a missed opportunity to engage young men in taking more responsibilities in pregnancy and STI prevention.…”

ProjectHeartforGirls.com: Development of a Web-Based HIV/STD Prevention Program for Adolescent Girls Emphasizing Sexual Communication Skills

“…As many as half of teens report they have not discussed condoms or other important safer-sex topics with their partners (DiClemente, 1991; Ryan, Franzetta, Manlove, & Holcombe, 2007; Widman, Choukas-Bradley, Helms, Golin, & Prinstein, 2014). These low numbers are perhaps not surprising considering that open discussions about sex require skills in sexual assertiveness and negotiation that are not frequently modeled for youth (Brown & Witherspoon, 2002; Metts & Spitzberg, 1996).…”

The HIV and AIDS Conversation: Who Are The Adolescents Talking To?

“…Lyons (2003) argues that "circumstances of an individual's life and their social context in family during childhood can increase the probability they will one day be exposed to, and infected by HIV". Open sexual communication between parents and adolescents has been identified as protective factor that reduces sexual risk behavior by delaying onset of intercourse Commendador, 2010;DiIorio, Pluhar, & Belcher, 2003;Jaccard, Dodge, & Dittus, 2002;Widman et al, 2014;Motsomi et al, 2016;Ayalew etal 2014;Edwards and Reis, 2014;Juma et al ,2015). Engaging parents in sexual education of the adolescents, improving underlying beliefs and norms, and improve the adolescent-parent communication, self-disclosure and television co-viewing and discussions are essential ( Dessie and Worku, 2015).Involvement of parents in the schools programmes on HIV /AIDS would improve the content and quality of their communications with adolescents.…”