Teen-parent health communication over early, middle, and late adolescence - Abstract
Risky sexual behaviors have high personal, social, and financial costs. While family communication about sex
can reduce these behaviors, most studies focus on a single time point. However, early (10-13), middle (14-17)
and late (18-21) adolescence each brings distinct developmental and relational processes. To be effective,
conversations about sex need to fit with teens' developmental stage and experiences. Protective resources are
particularly important during late adolescence as this period is characterized by sexual experimentation and
risk-taking, and shows high levels of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies. Few studies
assess family sexuality communication during late adolescence, a period which often involves separation from
parents but also growing mutuality with them, particularly for girls, which may create new opportunities for
teen-parent communication. Various characteristics affect how a person perceives parent-teen conversations
about sex: 1) teen gender, 2) the gender match between teen and parent, and 3) whether one is the parent or
the teen. For example, parents share different messages with daughters than sons about sex, but the influence
of teen gender can be confounded by the match in gender between the teen and parent, which is unexplored.
Finally, parents and teens frequently view family sexuality communication differently, but what lies behind
these differences is unexplored. Research is needed to guide parents as to whether and how to talk with their
children about sex in ways that are relevant for and accessible to teens at different developmental stages,
particularly late adolescence. To address NICHD's goals of identifying factors for preventing unintended
pregnancy and reducing transmission of STDs, the proposed study provides a rare opportunity to longitudinally
explore continuity and change in family sexuality communication over three critical developmental stages of
adolescence (Aim 1). It will also compare how characteristics of teen gender, the gender match between the
teen and parent, and teen and parent agreement across topics shape family communication about sex and
relationships (Aim 2). To address these aims, this study uses a longitudinal qualitative design, extending
existing qualitative data on teen-parent sexuality communication when teens were in 7th and 10th grade (N=23
parents and 23 teens) by conducting a third wave of interviews during late adolescence with the same sample
of diverse families. Thematic analysis will be used to examine interview data. Given its qualitative focus, this
study is largely exploratory. However, it is expected that female late adolescents will be more likely to talk with
parents about sex than males and that higher teen-parent agreement in reported talk about sex will be
associated with positive perceptions of family sexuality communication (Aim 2). This study is significant as the
first in-depth, longitudinal examination of teen-parent sexuality communication over three key adolescent
periods. Results will provide recommendations for parents, health providers, and educators on how to support
teens' health by adapting sexuality communication across multiple stages of adolescence.
