Parents Talking to Middle School Children about Sex: A Protective Factor against Suicide in Sexually Active Teens

Abstract

Suicide continues to be a considerable health risk among adolescents and is the second leading cause of death among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 24. Middle school-aged adolescents may be at a heightened risk for suicide, as middle school can be rife with intrapersonal and interpersonal stressors. One such stressor may be sexual activity and navigating sexual relationships. Past research has shown that parents can play an important role in helping adolescents cope with stressors at this age, but there is no identified research assessing whether parental conversations about sex are associated with suicidality among adolescents. The current study addressed this gap via secondary data analysis using logistic regression with a sample of 3,568 middle school students (mean age = 12.74; SD = 1.08). Results suggest that parental conversations about sex are a significant protective factor against suicidality, but only among adolescents who report having engaged in sexual activity.

Keywords:

• Teen suicide
• sexual activity
• sex education
• parental conversations
• middle school

Disclosure statement

There are no know conflicts of interest involving the authors, the study, or the results therein.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/data.htm.