Parent-adolescent sexual communication: Discussing condoms matters

BACKGROUND: Although parent-teen communication is suggested to influence teens' risk behaviors, and may reduce their risk, research suggests that parents abstain from discussing sex-related topics with their adolescents. Little is known about sexual communication among adolescents in psychiatric care and their caregivers. This study examined the relationship between parent-adolescent sexual communication and adolescent sexual behavior. We hypothesized that open sexual communication would be associated with consistent condom use.METHODS: 798 caregiver-adolescent dyads were recruited to participate in a multi-site randomized-controlled trial study from psychiatric programs targeting communication, risk reduction, and monitoring. Of those, 433 caregiver-adolescent dyads whose adolescents reported ever having vaginal/anal sex were selected for analyses. Sixty-percent of adolescents (M= 15.3 years) were female and 65% were African American.RESULTS: Adolescent report of open sexual communication was unrelated to condom use at last sex and proportion of protected sex acts. Adolescents reporting having had a condom discussion with their caregiver reported 64% of their sexual acts were protected compared with only 47% protected sexual acts for those adolescents who had not discussed condoms with their caregiver, t (209) =6.20, p<. 05. Additionally, 70% of adolescents reporting a condom discussion with their caregiver used a condom at last sex whereas only 53% of those who had not had a discussion about condoms with their caregiver used a condom at last sex, Χ= (1, N=406) = 11.07, p=.00.CONCLUSIONS: This finding supports the need for interventions to encourage parents to speak specifically to their teens about condom use to promote safer sex behavior.