Communication privacy management theory informed this study of nine mothers and their 18- or 19-year-old daughters who were interviewed to understand privacy rule foundations that influence their decisions to reveal or conceal sexual information. Findings reveal the salience of motivation and the risk-benefit ratio when making decisions about…

Disparities in cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination persist among Vietnamese and Latina women. Through a partnership with Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) in Southern California, we conducted in-depth interviews with young adult Latina (n = 24) and Vietnamese (n = 24) women, and PPOSBC staff…

Experimentation with alcohol and sexuality is a normative aspect of adolescent development. Yet, both present distinct risks to adolescent females and are especially problematic when they intersect. Although youth are often cautioned about the dangers associated with having sex and using alcohol, popular entertainment media frequently depict the…

We examined approaches used by African-American mothers and mothers of Latino descent for informal sex-related discussions with their children to inform sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV intervention development efforts. We recruited mothers (of children aged 12-15) from youth service agencies and a university in southern California.…

Retrospective data were entered anonymously by 1,521 adult women using computer-assisted self-interview. Nineteen were classified as victims of father-daughter incest, and 241 were classified as victims of sexual abuse by an adult other than their father before reaching 18 years of age. The remaining 1,261 served as controls. Incest victims were…

Parental communication and support is associated with improved developmental, health and behavioral outcomes in adolescence. This study explores the quality of mother-daughter communication about sexual maturation, abstinence and unintended pregnancy in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. We use data from 14 focus group…

This study explores perceptions of Mexican mother-adolescent communication about sexuality. Participants interviewed included four mother-expecting son pairs and four mother-pregnant daughter pairs. Our interviews revealed important adolescent gender differences. Pena (shame/embarrassment) played a major role vis-a-vis indirect communication about…

The paper presents findings from a survey of 720 respondents: 240 Roma parents, 240 Roma boys and 240 Roma girls between 12 and 25 years of age. The subjects were from various regions of Bulgaria and were members of different ethnic groups. The main goal of the survey was to study the current attitudes that Roma communities hold regarding an…

Although mothers are widely acknowledged as the primary in-home sexual educators of children, fathers also play an important role in sexual socialization. Paternal involvement is linked to positive social and psychological outcomes; an increased father-daughter communication can delay sexual debut and decrease frequency of engagement in…

A mixed methods approach was used to examine how young adults (n = 1012) perceive fathers as targets for attachment support. Participants ranked the level of attachment support received and sought from fathers, mothers, best friends, and romantic partners, and provided relationship-specific information on additional indices of social support…

A study of communication between mothers and daughters about mothers' sexual experience discloses mothers' and daughters' fears, concerns, and judgments about each other. In this study, 15 women, all mothers of girls, were interviewed about the history of their own sexual experience. Some of these women had chosen to share their personal…

This research explored how Muslim immigrant girls' communication and education about sexuality was mediated through their mothers and school-based sexuality education (SBSE) classes. Thirty mothers and their 38 daughters living in Illinois participated in focus group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews that gauged girls' and…

Life history theorists have proposed that humans have evolved to be sensitive to specific features of early childhood environments and that exposure to different environments biases children toward development of different reproductive strategies, including differential pubertal timing. The current research provides a longitudinal test of this…

The considerable risk of negative consequences of unprotected intercourse underscores a need to better understand how Latina adolescent girls acquire the skills to manage the risks associated with sexuality. The authors used in-depth qualitative interviews with mothers and their daughters to examine communication related to sexuality with the goal…

Family background variables such as race, religion, and gender of household head emerged as significant predictors of communication about sex in interviews conducted with a sample of mothers and teenage daughters. A suprising finding was a strong positive association between family religion and early sexual communication, although this may reflect…