National Center for Juvenile Justice, Pittsburgh, PA 15203, USA.
Ethn Health. 2013;18(2):168-89. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2012.708915. Epub 2012 Aug 6.
To explore social network members' role in educating African American adolescents about sexual health issues.
We conducted 21 focus groups with urban African American mothers (n=51), fathers (n=18), sons (n=20), and daughters (n=36) from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, between December 2007 and March 2008. At least one biological parent (or legal guardian) and one adolescent aged 15-17 years from each family participated. Group conversations were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using directive content analysis and the constant comparison method. Two coders independently read each transcript to identify emergent themes.
A broad range of people were reportedly involved in the education process. Older siblings, extended family, and peers were most commonly cited. However, unrelated adults were also described as playing important roles. Unrelated adults included the friends of an adolescent's parents and the parents of an adolescent's friends or romantic partners. Social network members were said to address three main issues: the facts about sex and sexuality, the social aspects of sexuality (e.g., appropriate dating behaviors, choosing dating partners), and promotion of family values. When educating adolescents about sex, social network members were described as playing eight functional roles, including that of a teacher, guide, challenger, confidant, shelterer, supervisor-chaperone, role model, and provider of access to reproductive health services. These roles were not mutually exclusive, meaning that social network members often assumed different roles depending on the situation. The influence of individuals who were not an adolescent's parent was highly dependent on adolescents' relationship with their parents or on their parents' comfort dealing with sexual issues.
African American adolescents' social networks were described by parents and adolescents as dense, complex, and routinely involved in educating adolescents about sex.
探讨社会网络成员在向非裔美国青少年传授性健康知识方面的作用。
我们于 2007 年 12 月至 2008 年 3 月期间，在美国宾夕法尼亚州阿勒格尼县，对城市非裔美国家庭的母亲（n=51）、父亲（n=18）、儿子（n=20）和女儿（n=36）进行了 21 次焦点小组访谈。每个家庭至少有一名亲生父母（或法定监护人）和一名 15-17 岁的青少年参加。小组谈话被录音、转录，并采用指令性内容分析和恒定性比较方法进行分析。两名编目员分别阅读每个转录本，以确定出现的主题。
据报道，有广泛的人群参与了教育过程。年龄较大的兄弟姐妹、大家庭成员和同龄人是最常被提及的，但也有不相关的成年人被描述为发挥着重要作用。不相关的成年人包括青少年父母的朋友和青少年朋友或恋人的父母。社会网络成员据称解决了三个主要问题：关于性和性行为的事实、性行为的社会方面（例如，适当的约会行为、选择约会对象）以及促进家庭价值观。在向青少年传授性知识时，社会网络成员被描述为扮演着八种功能角色，包括教师、指导者、挑战者、知己、保护者、监督者、榜样和生殖健康服务提供者。这些角色并非相互排斥，这意味着社会网络成员通常根据具体情况扮演不同的角色。那些与青少年没有亲属关系的人的影响高度依赖于青少年与父母的关系，或者父母是否愿意处理性问题。
父母和青少年将非裔美国青少年的社交网络描述为密集、复杂且经常参与向青少年传授性知识。
