The association of parental monitoring and parental communication with sexual and substance use risk behaviors among Native American Youth

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106171Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Parental monitoring and communication reduce sexual behavior of Native youth.

  • Parental monitoring and communication reduce substance use behavior of Native youth.

  • Youth programs involving parents reinforces value of family in Native communities.

Abstract

Context:

Native American (Native) youth face high rates of substance use, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Native communities are strengthened by values of family, yet limited research exists examining the associations between parental communication, monitoring and these risk behaviors.

Methods:

Analyses of a cross-sectional sample of Native youth ages 11–19 examined associations between youth and parental communication, parental monitoring and sexual and substance use behaviors. Logistic regressions, controlled by age, were performed in sex-specific bivariate models and multivariate models.

Results:

N = 543 youth were enrolled.

Bivariable analyses

Female youth with greater parental communication about sex were significantly less likely to report intention to use marijuana. Female youth with high parental monitoring were significantly less likely to report intention to drink alcohol or have sex; they were significantly less likely to have ever smoked, used marijuana, or had vaginal sex. Male youth were significantly more likely to report intention to use a condom if they had higher parental communication, higher parental communication about sex and higher parental monitoring.

Multivariable analyses

Female youth with greater parental communication were significantly less likely to ever have drank alcohol. Female youth with high parental monitoring were significantly less likely to report intentions to drink alcohol or have sex; they were also significantly less likely to have ever smoked, used marijuana, or had vaginal sex. Among male youth, intention to use condoms was significantly higher for those with high parental communication and high parental monitoring.

Conclusions:

Positive associations between parental monitoring, parental communication and reduced youth risk-taking show that families, parents and trusted adults are a meaningful and crucial protective factor against high risk substance and sexual behaviors and should be included in prevention programming for Native youth. Parental monitoring and communication impacted genders differently, suggesting that the quality and depth of communication surrounding substance use and sex may vary widely between families, community and Native cultures and by youth gender.

Section snippets

Introduction:

In Native American (Native) societies, families are a source of resiliency, hope, and courage, and play a lifelong role in the growth of individuals and communities (DSW & MA, 1997). However, Native youth bear significant health disparities, including early initiation of substance use, poor sexual health outcomes, and unintended pregnancies. Programming designed for Native youth drawing on the strengths of Native families may provide a path for reaching youth and reducing these health

Participants

Participants were part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating a sexual and reproductive health risk reduction intervention called “Respecting the Circle of Life” (RCL), a positive youth development program developed for Native youth and families and described in detail elsewhere (Tingey et al., 2017, Tingey et al., 2017, Tingey et al., 2015). All youth participants in the trial were ages 11–19 years, had primary residence on or near the participating tribal community, self-identified as

Results:

In total, 543 youth were included in the final sample. Of these youth, 23.94% (n = 130) were 15 years of age or older, with a median age of 13.0 years (IQR 12.0 to 14.0). 52.30% (n = 284) of the youth self-identified as female, and 47.69% (n = 259) self-identified as male. Though analyses focus on youth data, it is important to note that each youth enrolled with a TA and responded to questions in the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale and Parental Monitoring Scale about the TA they enrolled

Discussion:

Results of this analysis support previous research conducted with non-Native youth illustrating the importance of parental communication and monitoring for reducing substance use and sexual risk behaviors among youth. Importantly, this study adds to the limited research exploring these associations specifically among Native youth and family. Moreover, results and implications from this study are an essential contribution to the limited extant literature because of the unique features of this

Limitations:

This study is not without limitations. Data was collected via self-report from youth participants, which could have resulted in biased reporting. However, the study design included steps to mitigate potential response bias, including anonymous self-report, data collection by IEs and the provision of privacy for data collection. Additionally, overall rates of substance use and sexual behaviors were low in this sample, meaning the sample may not have been reflective of higher-risk youth in the

Conclusion:

Research has often ignored the inherent assets of Native communities, in particular the powerful role of families. This paper underscores the strengths of monitoring and communication by parents and trusted adults in the community for reducing sexual and substance use behaviors among Native youth. Results also reinforce the value of teaching both parental monitoring and parental communication in programming developed for Native youth and specifically Native females. In Native culture, family

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Hima Patel: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Project administration, Supervision, Software, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology. Rachel Chambers: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Project administration, Supervision, Software, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Methodology. Shea Littlepage: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Formal analysis, Software, Data curation, Methodology. Summer Rosenstock:

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

We respectfully acknowledge the youth and families who participated in this study. We also acknowledge and thank all study members for their dedication to improving the well-being of their communities. We give thanks to the tribal leaders and community stakeholders who generously contributed time and wisdom into making this research program possible.

Funding

This research was made possible by grant no. TP2AH000041 from the Office of Population Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services. The opinions or views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Office of Population Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services.

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