Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical - ETR Associates

9IncreasingParent-ChildCommunication About SexI ha v equ e s t io ns.Let’s talk.Keys to Increasing Parent-ChildCommunication About SexProvide homework assignments in whichstudents are asked to talk with their parentsor other trusted adults about various topicsrelated to sexual behavior. To reduce teensexual risks, parents should discourage sexualinitiation before their teens initiate sex andsupport contraceptive use before and aftertheir teens initiate sex.BackgroundParents’ communication with their children hasdiverse and life-long effects on their children’sbehavior. After all, parents communicate theirknowledge, beliefs, values, expectations and manyother messages, all of which affect their children’sbehavior. Parent-child communication is anessential part of parents’ supervision and monitoringof their children, including their adolescentchildren. Parent-child communication is part ofand contributes to parent-child connectedness, a“super-protector” that affects more than 30 differentadolescent health outcomes such as tobacco use,depression, eating disorders, academic achievement,pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and others(Lezin, Rolleri et al. 2004). Most generally, parentchildcommunication is a critical part of the entiresocialization process, which greatly affects children’sbehavior. Thus, it has a huge impact on adolescentbehavior (Miller 1998).However, the impact of parent-child communicationdepends greatly on many factors, including:• The characteristics of the parents (e.g., their parenting,time availability and cultural norms)• The characteristics of the children (e.g., their age,gender, genetic predispositions, beliefs, cultureand acculturation)• The characteristics of the relationship betweenthe parents and their children (e.g., whether theyare close and connected)• The content of the ideas being communicated(e.g., the facts, beliefs, and values beingcommunicated)• The characteristics of the communication process(e.g., whether the parent is conveying beliefs in amonologue or there is an open dialogue betweenthe parents and their children)Reviewing the extensive literature on all of thesetopics is beyond the scope of this chapter. Rather, itfocuses more specifically on parent-child communicationabout sexual activity.Clarifying Termsand PhrasesConsistent with the literature on parent-childcommunication about sex, the term “parents” inthis chapter is broadly defined to include biologicalparents, adopted parents, grandparents and othersChapter 9 Increasing Parent-Child Communication About Sex 107