Saw Swee Hock School Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Ann Acad Med Singap. 2012 Jun;41(6):239-46.
Sexually transmitted infections have increased sharply among adolescents both locally and internationally in recent years. Parents play an important role in their children's sexual health development. An integral part of this includes effective parent-child sexuality communication.
A nationwide cross-sectional community-based household survey was conducted in Singapore between August 2008 and March 2009 to assess parents'/caregivers' attitudes and practices regarding caregiver-child sexuality communication. With an overall response rate of 81.4%, 1169 questionnaires from parents/caregivers of children aged 10 to 17 years were analysed.
Almost all (94.2%) the caregivers were parents. A majority (>80%) of caregivers considered talking to their children about sexuality issues such as abstinence, consequences of premarital sex and condom use as important. However, a significantly lower percentage (about 60%) felt comfortable and confident doing so. Only 8.3% among them discussed sexual health issues with their children very often, 37.2% sometimes, 22.0% seldom/hardly ever (once or twice) and 32.5% never, in the past year. In the multivariate analysis, caregiver-child sexuality communication was significantly associated with caregivers' relationship to children, ethnicity, educational level, and their perceived levels of comfort and confidence in sexuality communication.
Caregivers generally felt it was important but were significantly much less comfortable and confident talking about sexuality issues with their children, which leads to a lower frequency of caregiver-child sexuality communication. Educational programmes on adolescent sexual health targeting parents/caregivers are needed. They must be equipped with skills and provided with resources to enable them to talk to their adolescent children about sexuality.
近年来，性传播感染在本地和国际上的青少年中急剧增加。父母在孩子的性健康发展中起着重要作用。其中一个重要组成部分包括有效的亲子性沟通。
2008 年 8 月至 2009 年 3 月，在新加坡进行了一项全国性的基于社区的家庭调查，以评估父母/照顾者在照顾者与儿童的性沟通方面的态度和做法。总体回应率为 81.4%，分析了 1169 份来自 10 至 17 岁儿童父母/照顾者的问卷。
几乎所有（94.2%）的照顾者都是父母。大多数（>80%）的照顾者认为与孩子谈论性问题，如禁欲、婚前性行为的后果和使用避孕套是重要的。然而，只有约 60%的人觉得这样做感到舒适和自信。只有 8.3%的人经常与孩子讨论性健康问题，37.2%的人有时讨论，22.0%的人很少/几乎从不（一两次），32.5%的人从未在过去一年中讨论过。在多变量分析中，照顾者与孩子的关系、族裔、教育程度以及他们对性沟通的舒适度和自信心与照顾者与孩子的性沟通显著相关。
照顾者普遍认为这很重要，但与孩子谈论性问题时明显感到不那么舒适和自信，这导致照顾者与孩子的性沟通频率较低。需要针对父母/照顾者的青少年性健康教育计划。他们必须具备技能，并提供资源，使他们能够与青少年子女谈论性问题。
