Introduction

Parent-child sexual communication (PCSC) has been found to be an important predicting factor for later sexual health. This paper explored the topics, values, and communication styles of PCSC, and emerging adults’ suggestions for improving PCSC.

Method

The current study utilized data collected from focus groups conducted in 2012 with 38 college-aged emerging adults (50% female) who reported previously having sexual intercourse regarding their memories of PCSC.

Results

The findings show that the most salient topics discussed during PCSC were the adolescents’ sexual history/activity, birth control/contraceptives, abstinence or delaying sex, and parents’ personal experiences. Participants reported communication characterized by infrequent and one-sided conversations dominated by the parent. They also reported that parents tended to communicate accepting values (parental acknowledgement or acceptance that their children would likely be sexually active in adolescence) during PCSC. Finally, participants’ most common suggestion for improvement was to have supportive and open PCSC where children can go to their parents for information and support regardless of their sexual decisions. Gender differences arose across multiple subthemes.

Conclusions

Parents are rarely discussing in-depth sexual health topics in an open manner. There are multiple areas in which parents can improve when discussing sexuality with their children.

Policy Implications

Funding for parent-targeted programming should be allocated to help parents be more effective sex educators in the home by improving PCSC quality. Comprehensive sex education should be provided for students in schools to help supplement the sexual values they learn at home when parents do not provide sexual health information.

中文翻译：

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只是敞开心About或打开收音机：对青少年亲子性交经历的定性分析

介绍

亲子性交（PCSC）被发现是以后性健康的重要预测因素。本文探讨了PCSC的主题，价值和沟通方式，以及新兴成年人对PCSC改进的建议。

方法

本研究使用了2012年从焦点小组收集的数据，这些焦点小组对38位大学年龄的新兴成年人（女性占50％）进行了报道，这些成年人先前曾发生过性交，涉及他们对PCSC的记忆。

结果

研究结果表明，在PCSC期间讨论的最突出的话题是青少年的性历史/活动，节育/避孕，节制或延迟性行为以及父母的个人经历。参加者报告了以父母为主的不频繁和单面对话为特征的交流。他们还报告说，在PCSC期间，父母倾向于传达接受的价值观（父母的承认或接受，他们的孩子可能在青春期性活跃）。最后，参与者最常见的改善建议是建立支持性和开放性的PCSC，孩子们可以在不考虑性决定的情况下向父母寻求信息和支持。跨多个子主题出现了性别差异。

结论

父母很少公开讨论深入的性健康话题。在与子女讨论性行为时，父母可以在多个方面进行改进。

政策含义

应该分配针对父母的计划资金，以通过提高PCSC的质量帮助父母成为家庭中更有效的性教育者。当父母不提供性健康信息时，应该为学校的学生提供全面的性教育，以帮助补充他们在家学习的性价值观。