title: Perceived control and communication about sex: a study of South African families.
abstract: Caregiver-youth communication about sex protects youth against HIV/AIDS, and caregivers who believe that sex knowledge is important are more likely to talk to their youth about sex. However, caregivers who experience barriers to communication about sex may not talk to their youth about sex even if the caregiver believes that sex education is important. The Theory of Planned Behaviour predicts that an actor has perceived control is necessary for behavioural change. This study therefore hypothesised that caregivers' perceived control moderates the relationship between caregiver attitudes about youth sex knowledge and caregiver-youth communication about sex. Results from a sample of 99 female South African caregivers of adolescent (10-14 year old) youth supported our hypothesis, indicating that caregiver attitudes about providing youth with sex knowledge positively predict communication about sex only when caregivers have perceived control. This finding illustrates the importance of perceived control in predicting caregiver-youth communication, and therefore has implications for family-based interventions aimed at improving caregiver-youth communication about sex.
authors.affiliation: a Georgia State University , Department of Psycholoy , PO Box 5010, Atlanta , Georgia 30302-5010.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goodnight
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Grim
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Armistead
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: Yoesrie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toefy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D003075:Coitus; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010465:Perception; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012736:Sex Education; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013019:South Africa; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: HIV; caregivers; family; parental attitudes; parent–child communication; perceived control