Youth Promise: A Parent-Youth Sex Communication Project in African American Churches

Studies suggest that parent communication about sex with their youth can serve as a protective factor for delaying youth sexual activities and preventing STI/HIV infection. Youth Promise is a church-based project developed through Taking It to the Pews (TIPS) to address: a) parent and youth training on sex communication and b) church-wide delivery of activities to enhance parent-youth communication. Focus groups and surveys were conducted with parents and youth from TIPS African American churches to design culturally and religiously appropriate project components. Parent focus group discussions (N=12 participants, 67% females, mean age=46) revealed they believed the church should be involved in educating youth about sex; however, they felt that explicit sex education topics should be conducted off-site from church. Most parents reported they had talked to their youth about sex 7-8 times in the last 6 months. Youth focus group participants (N=30, 50% females, mean age=14) commented that their parents' expected them to go to college and not get pregnant. Church youth survey data indicated that 36% had already had vaginal sex. Most of their parents had talked to them about delaying sex and using condoms; yet, only 23% of their parents had talked to them about their personal values regarding sex. Most of the youth reported their parents had talked to them about sex 1-2 times in the last 6 months. We will describe how findings from the parent and youth focus groups/surveys have informed the development of Youth Promise intervention components and will report on preliminary project findings.