Mum's the word: mothers' perspectives on communication about sexuality with adolescents.

Mothers' perceptions of the style, content and frequency of their communications with their adolescents about sex and sexuality were examined. We administered semi-structured interviews to 30 mothers of 16-year-olds (16 mothers of sons, 14 mothers of daughters). Despite a uniform assessment that they were effective sexual communicators, mothers varied greatly in their style of sexual communication. Qualitative analyses revealed five communication styles: avoidant, reactive, opportunistic, child-initiated and mutually interactive. These styles differed in who initiated and maintained sexual communication, the comfort level of mother and of teenager, the frequency of sexual communications, the context in which communications took place and the topics discussed and avoided.