Original articleAdolescents' Reports of Communication With Their Parents About Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Birth Control: 1988, 1995, and 2002
Section snippets
Sources of data
Data are analyzed from five nationally representative surveys: the 1988 and 1995 NSAM which recruited 15–19-year-old males, the 1988 and 1995 NSFG, which recruited 15–44-year-old females, and the 2002 NSFG, which recruited 15–44-year-old males and females. The surveys have been described in detail elsewhere [23], [24], [25], [26], [27]. In brief, they are all nationally representative household surveys that utilized face-to-face interviews to investigate fertility patterns and sexual behavior.
Sample description
As can be seen from Table 1, the racial make-up of the final samples varies slightly from year to year. Generally, the samples include about 65% non-Hispanic white, 15% non-Hispanic black, 12% Hispanic, and 5% non-Hispanic “other.” Because the numbers are so small for the non-Hispanic “other” category, this group is included in the total overall for males and females, but statistical comparisons are not performed separately for this racial grouping, nor are they grouped with another racial
Discussion
Consideration of the role of parents in an adolescent's life and their potential influence on teen's sexual behavior decision making is an important component of a comprehensive prevention strategy. Teenagers cite their parents as the most influential person in their lives when they make decisions about sex—more than their peers and the media [31]. However, some parents of teens underestimate the influence they have on their child's sexual behavior and believe that their children are more
Conclusion
The results of this study show that in 2002, fewer female adolescents received messages about birth control and STDs from their parents than they have had before. This reduction in parental sex education is coupled with the documented decrease in share of adolescents hearing about these topics in sex education classes during the same period. In the context of current increases in adolescent birth rates and high prevalence of STDs among adolescents, public health officials should be concerned
Acknowledgments
I have affirmed that everyone who was involved in the development of the study and the preparation of the manuscript has been listed. This manuscript is the result of a school project and did not have any external funding.
References (34)
Can we afford to be complacent about teens' use of condoms?
J Adolesc Health
(2008)- et al.
Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: A research synthesis
Dev Rev
(2001) - et al.
Parental communication and youth sexual behaviour
J Adolesc
(2007) - et al.
The role of mother-daughter sexual risk communication in reducing sexual risk behaviors among urban adolescent females: A prospective study
J Adolesc Health
(2003) - et al.
Communication about sexual issues: Mothers, fathers, and friends
J Adolesc Health
(1999) - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trends in the Prevalence of Sexual Behaviors: National YRBS: 1991–2007....
- et al.
Births: Final data for 2006
Natl Vital Stat Rep
(2009) - et al.
Births: Preliminary data for 2007
Natl Vital Stat Rep
(2009) - et al.
Sexually transmitted diseases among American youth: Incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000
Perspect Sex Reprod Health
(2004) - Forhan SE, Gottlieb SL, Sternberg MR, et al. Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis...
Changes in formal sex education: 1995–2002
Perspect Sex Reprod Health
First-Year Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence-Education Programs
An evaluation of an abstinence-only sex education curriculum: An 18-month follow-up
J Sch Health
Impacts of abstinence education on teen sexual activity, risk of pregnancy, and risk of sexually transmitted diseases
J Policy Anal Manage
Parent-adolescent communication about premarital pregnancy
Fam Soc
Relationship between adolescent-parental communication and initiation of first intercourse by adolescents
J Adolesc Health
Patterns of condom use among adolescents: The impact of mother-adolescent communication
Am J Public Health
Cited by (35)
Longitudinal Change in Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sexuality
2018, Journal of Adolescent HealthCitation Excerpt :Though few studies have assessed longitudinal protection, one study found that mother-daughter communication about sexual risk was associated with fewer incidences of unprotected sex three months later [6], suggesting that sex communication is effective in a short-term longitudinal framework, but telling us little about the potential long-term protective associations. Research assessing change over time has found that trends in parent-child discussions with daughters about STDs and birth control declined from 1995 to 2002 [7], but sex communication with parents did not change from 2006 to 2013 [1]. However, for both of these studies retrospective reports were used and individual change over time was not assessed.
Changes in Adolescents' Receipt of Sex Education, 2006-2013
2016, Journal of Adolescent HealthRacial and/or Ethnic Differences in Formal Sex Education and Sex Education by Parents among Young Women in the United States
2016, Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent GynecologyCitation Excerpt :One study that compared data from the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) demonstrated that, in 2002, black women were less likely than white women to report formal contraceptive education (64% vs 72%); there were no statistically significant differences regarding formal contraceptive education between white, black, and Hispanic women in 1995.15 A similar study that compared data from the 1988, 1995, and 2002 NSFG found that reports of contraceptive education by parents and STI education by parents were not significantly different among racial and/or ethnic groups in 1995 or 2002.16 However, in 1988, compared with black women, white women were less likely to report contraceptive education by parents and Hispanic individuals were less likely to report STI education by parents (69% vs 58% and 60% vs 39%, respectively).
Impact of parent-child communication interventions on sex behaviors and cognitive outcomes for black/african-american and hispanic/latino youth: A systematic review, 1988-2012
2014, Journal of Adolescent HealthCitation Excerpt :Given that 31% of black/African-American and 15% of Hispanic/Latino male ninth graders report being sexually active prior to age 13 years, education and prevention efforts that start as early as middle school (sixth–eighth grades) [58] and continue through high school merit consideration [59]. Also, given that <30% of middle school youth report receiving comprehensive sex education in the school setting [60], and recent data show teens report fewer parent discussions about contraception, HIV, and STIs [61,62], there is a timely opportunity to involve parents in HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention strategies. Parents are a vital resource of accurate sexual health information for middle-school age and older youth, and parent-child communication interventions that improve parents' abilities to provide this information confidently to their children are crucial.
Patterns and correlates of parental and formal sexual and reproductive health communication for adolescent women in the United States, 2002-2008
2012, Journal of Adolescent HealthCitation Excerpt :Adolescents were also asked whether they had ever received formal communication from schools, churches, or community centers on abstinence and methods of contraception. We evaluated the following sociodemographic characteristics as potential determinants of SRH communication based on previous research [1,5,7]: age, race/ethnicity, education, income, poverty, employment, insurance, birthplace, residence, religiosity, mother's education, childhood family situation, age of mother at the time of first birth, age at menarche, sexual intercourse experience, age at coitus, number of recent sexual partners, cohabitation and/or marriage, pregnancies, parity, and gynecologic diagnoses. We used descriptive statistics to estimate sociodemographic characteristics and SRH communication.
“Premature” Girls with “Illegitimate” Diseases: A Qualitative Exploration of the Stigma of Gynecological Diseases for Unmarried Young Women in China
2023, Journal of Health Communication