Talking frequently with adolescents about sexuality is more effective than having one “big talk” and then ignoring the topic, data from a study of 312 adolescents show.
Given this, it makes sense to advise parents about the value of repeatedly discussing sexual topics with their adolescent children.
Previous studies have shown that parents can play a key role in promoting healthy sexual development in their adolescents, but most parents are uncomfortable talking about sex and prefer to have a single talk about the subject.
But regular, shorter conversations might be more effective at building a stronger bond with adolescents and reinforcing messages, reported Steven C. Martino, Ph.D., of Rand Corp. in Pittsburgh and his colleagues.
This study, the first to examine the role of repeated talks about sex on adolescents, included adolescents (52% girls, 48% boys) aged an average of 13 years and their parents who were randomized to an 8-week intervention to promote better communication.
The average age of the participating parents was 44 years, and 70% were women (Pediatrics 2008;121:3612–8).
The adolescents and parents completed surveys at the start of the study, and again at 1 week, 3 months, and 9 months after the intervention.
The researchers asked which of 22 sex-related topics the adolescents and parents had discussed, including, “How will you make decisions about whether to have sex” and, “What it feels like to have sex.” They also asked the adolescents to answer questions about their relationship with the participating parent on a scale of 1 (terrible) to 7 (excellent).
Parents discussed an average of 7 of the 22 topics at baseline, and an average of 10 topics had been discussed repeatedly by the end of the study.
The parents in the control group completed the surveys but did not participate in the communication intervention.
Overall, repetition of sexual topics was significantly associated with an adolescent's perception of a close relationship with a parent, while the number of topics mentioned in a single talk or the number of talks had no apparent impact on relationship quality, the researchers said.
But that doesn't mean that addressing a range of sexual topics in one talk is negative.
Adolescents whose parents cover many topics during discussions about sex might be better equipped to make safe sexual decisions, compared with those whose parents limit discussions of sex to one or two topics, Dr. Martino and his associates said.
“Our results suggest, however, that parents who take a checklist approach to broadening their sexual discussions with their children are unlikely to have as great an influence on their children as parents who introduce new sexual topics and develop them through repeated discussions,” they wrote.
The study was limited by the use of adolescent reports and the fact that the study subjects were participants in a communication improvement program, the researchers noted.
More research is needed to determine whether the results are applicable to a broader population. In addition, the researchers said that it is important for future studies to “establish the roles of breadth and repetition of parent-adolescent sexual communication in adolescent sexual risk taking.”