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Understanding the relationship between religiosity and caregiver-adolescent communication about sex within African-American families.

ABSTRACT: Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex plays a critical role in the sexual socialization of youth. Many caregivers, however, do not engage their youth in such conversations, potentially placing them at risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Lack of caregiver-adolescent communication about sex may be particularly harmful for rural African American youth, as they often report early sex initiation and are disproportionately impacted by STIs. Moreover, sexual communication may be particularly challenging for families with strong religious backgrounds, potentially affecting the occurrence and breadth of topics covered during communication. Study aims were to: determine whether there was a relationship between caregiver religiosity and type of topics covered during communication about sex (e.g., general sexual health vs. positive aspects of sexuality) among 435 caregivers of early adolescent, African American youth; and if so, identify factors that might explain how religiosity affects communication about sex. Results indicated that caregiver religiosity was positively associated with communication about general, but not positive aspects of sexuality for caregivers of males. Attitudes towards communication about sex and open communication style mediated the relationship. There was no association between religiosity and communication about sex for caregivers of females. The findings from this study could provide a base to better understand and support the sexual socialization process within religious, African American families.

SUBMITTER: Ritchwood TD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5673470 | biostudies-other | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Understanding the relationship between religiosity and caregiver-adolescent communication about sex within African-American families.

Ritchwood Tiarney D TD Powell Terrinieka W TW Metzger Isha W IW Dave Gaurav G Corbie-Smith Giselle G Atujuna Millicent M Vander Schaaf Emily B EB Wynn Mysha M Lin Feng-Chang FC Zhou Wenxiao W Akers Aletha Y AY

Journal of child and family studies 20170613 11

Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex plays a critical role in the sexual socialization of youth. Many caregivers, however, do not engage their youth in such conversations, potentially placing them at risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Lack of caregiver-adolescent communication about sex may be particularly harmful for rural African American youth, as they often report early sex initiation and are disproportionately impacted by STIs. Moreover, sexual communication may be particular ...[more]

PMID: 29123360

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Project description:ImportanceParent-adolescent sexual communication has received considerable attention as a factor that can positively affect safer sex behavior among youth; however, the evidence linking such communication to youth contraceptive and condom use has not been empirically synthesized.ObjectivesTo examine the effect of parent-adolescent sexual communication on safer sex behavior among youth and explore potential moderators of this association.Data sourcesA systematic search of studies published from database inception through June 30, 2014, using the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Communication & Mass Media Complete databases and relevant review articles yielded 5098 studies, of which 52 studies with 25,314 adolescents met the study eligibility criteria. Analysis was conducted from July 1, 2014, to July 27, 2015.Study selectionStudies were included if they sampled adolescents (mean sample age ≤18 years), included an adolescent report of sexual communication with one or both parents, measured safer sex behavior, and were published in English.Data extraction and synthesisCorrelation coefficients (r) and 95% CIs were computed from studies and meta-analyzed using random-effects models.Main outcomes and measuresSafer sex behavior, including use of contraceptives or condoms.ResultsFifty-two articles, including 71 independent effects representing more than 3 decades of research on 25,314 adolescents (weighted mean age, 15.2 years) were synthesized. Across studies, there was a significant weighted mean effect (r = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.08-0.13) linking parent-adolescent sexual communication with safer sex behavior, which was statistically heterogeneous (Q = 203.50, P < .001, I2 = 65.60). Moderation analyses revealed larger effects for communication with girls (r = 0.12) than boys (r = 0.04) and among youth who discussed sex with their mothers (r = 0.14) compared with their fathers (r = 0.03). Effects did not differ for contraceptive vs condom use or among longitudinal vs cross-sectional studies, indicating that parent sexual communication had a similar effect across study designs and outcomes. Several methodological issues were identified in the literature; future studies can improve on these issues by measuring parent-adolescent communication with robust, multi-item measures, clearly specifying the target parent, and applying multimethod longitudinal designs.Conclusions and relevanceSexual communication with parents, particularly mothers, plays a small protective role in safer sex behavior among adolescents; this protective effect is more pronounced for girls than boys. We discuss the implications for practice and make suggestions for future research on parent-adolescent sexual communication.

Dataset Information

Understanding the relationship between religiosity and caregiver-adolescent communication about sex within African-American families.

Publications

Understanding the relationship between religiosity and caregiver-adolescent communication about sex within African-American families.

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