Sex and Risk: Parental Messages and Associated Safety/Risk Behavior of Adult Children

Abstract

The importance of both parent–child conversations about sex and general family communication climates has been emphasized in numerous studies. This study compared general family communication via family communication patterns (FCP) to specific parental communication about sex in understanding young adults’ sexual communication/risk (avoidance, threat, and risk behavior). Results suggest that FCP were stronger predictors of adult children’s perceptions of sexual communication as threatening and overall avoidance of sexual communication with their partners compared to the frequency of and overall quality of parent–child conversations about sex. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

Keywords:

• family communication
• risk
• safer sex communication
• sex

Notes

^[1] The initial item asked: Think back to your time growing up during childhood. Although many people have 2 parents or caregivers, children tend to spend more time with one parent (or caregiver) over the other. Of your primary caregiver(s), please circle which one you spent the most time with. The most common response was mother (n = 150;father n = 19; other n = 4, grandmother n = 1, grandfather n = 1, aunt = 1, uncle = 1, combination of roles = 7; 8 declined to report). For our sample, this resulted in the following: male participant−male caregiver (n = 17), male participant−female caregiver (n = 50), female participant−male caregiver (n = 5), and female participant−female caregiver (n = 101); based on missing data, 22 could not be categorized.