Mothers\u27 Preferences Regarding Sex Education in the Home

There is a large amount of evidence suggesting a need to educate children concerning sexual issues. The extent of adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and the spread of AIDS are all indicators of the lack of appropriate education. In view of these social concerns, along with the controversy concerning sex education taught in school, it would seem to be helpful if parents provided more adequate sex education. Parents are a primary source of sex education for their children, but many parents lack knowledge and feel inadequate in this role. Without appropriate sex education, children turn to other sources for answers to their sexual questions. These sources can provide false and sometimes harmful information to children. One hundred and seventy parents from Cache Valley, Utah, were interviewed over the phone to ascertain their views regarding sex education for their children. Parental adequacy as sex educators, ages and places parents would prefer their children be taught sexual issues, and content areas and materials parents would find most useful in teaching sex education were all evaluated. The results indicate that participants view themselves as better sex educators than their parents were. Overall parents prefer that sexual anatomy be taught at the youngest age and birth control at the latest age. Parents also prefer that sexual topics should be taught in the home, and many feel comfortable with sexual issues being taught both at home and at school. Parents prefer that topics including everything, factual information, abstinence, and sex as positive should be included within a sex education program. On the other hand, they prefer that explicit or graphic materials, birth control, and sex as negative should not be included within a sex education program. They would also prefer a program in the home utilizing a combination of print and video materials

Pubertal Development, Parent-Teen Communication, and Sexual Values as Predictors of Adolescent Sexual Intentions and Sexually Related Behaviors

Adolescent sexual intercourse can be viewed as a normal developmental experience, but intercourse also is linked to unplanned pregnancies, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Consequently, there continues to be a high level of scientific interest in understanding antecedents of adolescent sexual behavior, especially early and more risky sexual intercourse. This study examined several key antecedents of adolescent sexual intentions and behavior, including pubertal development (pubertal status, change over time, and pubertal timing). parent/teen communication, and teen sexual values. Analyses were based on longitudinal data collected in 1991, 1992, and 1993 from parents and teens during the FACTS & feelings project conducted within three areas in northern Utah. Regression and path analyses were used to test the direct and indirect effects among the variables. Parent/teen communication quality had a significant positive effect on teen sexual abstinent values for both males and females. Sexual abstinent values had a strong negative effect on sexual intentions for both males and females. Sexual values were more strongly related to sexual behavior for females than for males. Sexual intentions had a significant effect on sexual behaviors for both males and females, although this effect was stronger for males than for females. Pubertal timing had a significant effect on behaviors for males and a smaller although significant effect for females Age also had a significant positive effect for both male and female adolescents. Overall, within these analyses, females were more influenced by values which directly and indirectly affect sexual behaviors. Males were more influenced by the FACTS & feelings treatment, pubertal timing, and sexual intentions