Ritchwood Tiarney D, Powell Terrinieka W, Metzger Isha W, Dave Gaurav, Corbie-Smith Giselle, Atujuna Millicent, Vander Schaaf Emily B, Wynn Mysha, Lin Feng-Chang, Zhou Wenxiao, Akers Aletha Y
Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC.
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC.
J Child Fam Stud. 2017 Nov;26(11):2979-2989. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0810-9. Epub 2017 Jun 13.
Caregiver-adolescent communication about sex plays a critical role in the sexual socialization of youth. Many caregivers, however, do not engage their youth in such conversations, potentially placing them at risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Lack of caregiver-adolescent communication about sex may be particularly harmful for rural African American youth, as they often report early sex initiation and are disproportionately impacted by STIs. Moreover, sexual communication may be particularly challenging for families with strong religious backgrounds, potentially affecting the occurrence and breadth of topics covered during communication. Study aims were to: determine whether there was a relationship between caregiver religiosity and type of topics covered during communication about sex (e.g., general sexual health vs. positive aspects of sexuality) among 435 caregivers of early adolescent, African American youth; and if so, identify factors that might explain how religiosity affects communication about sex. Results indicated that caregiver religiosity was positively associated with communication about general, but not positive aspects of sexuality for caregivers of males. Attitudes towards communication about sex and open communication style mediated the relationship. There was no association between religiosity and communication about sex for caregivers of females. The findings from this study could provide a base to better understand and support the sexual socialization process within religious, African American families.
照顾者与青少年关于性的沟通在青少年的性社会化过程中起着关键作用。然而，许多照顾者并不与青少年进行此类对话，这可能使他们面临负面性健康结果的风险。对于农村非裔美国青少年而言，缺乏照顾者与青少年关于性的沟通可能尤其有害，因为他们常常报告较早开始性行为，且受到性传播感染的影响尤为严重。此外，对于有强烈宗教背景的家庭来说，性方面的沟通可能特别具有挑战性，这可能会影响沟通中所涵盖话题的出现频率和广度。研究目的如下：确定在435名青春期早期非裔美国青少年的照顾者中，照顾者的宗教信仰与性方面沟通所涵盖的话题类型（例如，一般性健康与性的积极方面）之间是否存在关联；如果存在关联，找出可能解释宗教信仰如何影响性方面沟通的因素。结果表明，对于男性照顾者而言，照顾者的宗教信仰与关于一般性健康而非性的积极方面的沟通呈正相关。对性方面沟通的态度和开放的沟通方式介导了这种关系。对于女性照顾者而言，宗教信仰与性方面的沟通之间不存在关联。本研究的结果可为更好地理解和支持宗教背景的非裔美国家庭中的性社会化过程提供基础。
