Sexual health discussions between African-American mothers and mothers of Latino descent and their children

21st Century Parent–Child Sex Communication in the United States: A Process Review

“…Parents and children engage in sex communication while riding in the family car, when watching TV, when considering whether to allow children to attend events such as sex education at school, and when discussing events involving family or friends (Eastman, Corona, Ryan, Warsofsky, & Schuster, 2005; Hannan, Happ, & Charron-Prochownik, 2009; Murray et al, 2014). During sex communication, numerous factors have been found as influential in the process including parent and child gender, the specificity of topics discussed, parents’ communication styles, tone, language, the focus on the consequences of sex, and its implications for the future.…”

“…Few fathers provide explicit guidance (Solebello & Elliott, 2011); those who were willing to have in-depth, open and honest conversations contributed to daughters’ knowledge, ability to clarify, and knowledge that they could talk to fathers about sex any time (Nielsen, Latty, & Angera, 2013). Many mothers were blunt about sex and honest in their approach (Murray et al, 2014), while others were avoidant or reticent (Baier & Wampler, 2008; Pluhar, Jennings, & DiIorio, 2006). Daughters agreed that mothers’ candidness contributed to communication about sexual risks (Cederbaum, 2012; Cox, Mezulis, & Hyde, 2010).…”

“…Sex communication in these households emphasized the future in terms of prioritizing educational goals (McKee & Karasz, 2006) and attaining self-sufficiency through gainful employment before supporting a family (Akers et al, 2010; Meschke & Peter, 2014; Murray et al, 2014). In these talks about the future, sex and unplanned pregnancies were depicted as a threat that forced children to grow up early (Afifi et al, 2008) and can be an impediment to achieving one’s dreams (Jaccard et al, 2003).…”

“…Fathers in Atlanta supported the view that as sex educators they did not have subject matter expertise (DiIorio et al, 2006). For mothers, many professed inadequate knowledge about male sexuality (Cox et al, 2010), and they relied on male figures to address those questions (Murray et al, 2014; Pluhar et al, 2006). Single mothers, for example, limited sex communication out of concern that they might impinge on their son’s development of a normative masculine and heterosexual identity (Elliott, 2010a).…”

Renewed commitments in a time of vigilance: sexuality education in the USA

“…Race/ethnicity is one such hierarchy, and it has significant implications for the diverse needs of families when it comes to sexuality education. Pluhar and Kuriloff (2004) and Murray et al (2014) consider some of the specificities of parent-child communication in African American and Latinx 1 families. Pluhar and Kuriloff contribute needed insight into communication between African American mothers and their daughters, identifying communication styles and emotions -for example, empathy or anger -that emerge in their interactions.…”