title: Parent-youth communication and concordance between parents and adolescents on reported engagement in social relationships and sexually intimate behaviors in Hanoi and Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parent-child communication is associated with positive outcomes for youths' engagement in sexual behaviors. Limited data are available regarding parent-child communication in transitional countries. We present data from Vietnamese parent-youth dyads on parent reproductive health (RH) knowledge, comfort of communication, frequency of talk, and discordancy between youths' reported and parents' perceptions for engagement in relationships and sexually intimate behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cohort included 185 randomly selected parent-youth dyads in four communes in Hanoi and Khanh Hoa Province. Descriptive and comparative analysis included chi-squared tests, independent samples t-tests, and ANOVA. Linear regression analysis was used to assess relationships between parental knowledge, level of comfort, frequency of talk, and discordancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-six percent of parents and 44% of youth were female. The mean age of youth was 17.2 years. The mean score for parental "RH knowledge" was 24.74 (SD, 3.84; range, 15-34). Lower parental RH knowledge was positively associated with lower levels of education (F = 2.983; df, 184; p = .014). Data indicate a linear model in which knowledge is related to "comfort" (β = .17; p = .048), and "comfort" to frequency of "talk" (β = .6; p < .0001). Frequency of "talk" is not related to parents' discordant perceptions regarding their child's reported involvement in relationships (β = .002; p = .79) or sexual touching (β = .57; p = .60).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parent and youth in Vietnam are engaged in limited communication about RH. There is a need for more data to assess the effect of these communication patterns on youths' engagement in sexual behaviors and for development of family-centered interventions to increase parental knowledge and skills for positive communication.
authors.affiliation: The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics,Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA. lkaljee@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kaljee
authors.forename: Mackenzie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Porntip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lerdboon
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riel
authors.forename: Van
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: Le Huu
authors.initials: le H
authors.lastname: Tho
authors.forename: Nguyen T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Truong Tan
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Minh
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xinguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Bonita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stanton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014744:Vietnam; D055815:Young Adult