title: Mother-daughter communication about sex: the influence of authoritative parenting style.
abstract: Parent-child communication about sex has been shown to delay sexual activity and increase contraceptive and condom use. The influence of authoritative parenting style and mothers' perception of daughters' risk on communication about sex was examined in this study. Mothers in a random sample (n=283) with daughters aged 9-15 years were mailed surveys asking about communication with their daughters regarding 11 sex-related topics. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the influence of authoritative parenting style and mothers' perceptions of risk on the number of topics communicated about and age of the daughter at time of communication for a variety of sexual health communication topics. Authoritative parenting style was related to the number of topics communicated about and was a predictor of age of daughter at the time of communication about sexual intercourse, menstruation, dating/relationships, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, alcohol, contraceptives, and abstinence, while perceptions of risk were not significant influencers of age at the time of communication for any topics. This research points to the importance of parenting style in determining the timing of parent-child communication about sexual and other risk behaviors.
authors: Department of Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, 2195 WL, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. natoshia-askelson@uiowa.edu
authors: Natoshia M
authors: NM
authors: Askelson
authors: Shelly
authors: S
authors: Campo
authors: Sandi
authors: S
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D009679:Nuclear Family; D016487:Parenting; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior