The authors present the feasibility and acceptability of a parent sexuality education program led by peer educators in community settings. They also report the results of an outcome evaluation with 71 parents who were randomized to the intervention or a control group and surveyed one month prior to and six months after the four-week intervention.…

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of sexting among sixth through twelfth grade students and its correlations with other risk behaviors. The survey was conducted in 35 different schools in a midwestern state. Overall, 17% of students engaged in sexting, which varied significantly by age (3% of 12-year-olds to 32% of…

Risky sexual behaviors among U.S. adolescents have resulted in epidemic rates of sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and unintended pregnancy. This article describes a community-developed pilot program for parents in a large South Florida county aimed at increasing parent comfort in discussing sexuality with their children to improve adolescent…

An American sociologist who grew up in the Netherlands, Amy Schalet digs deep into cultural values about adolescent sexuality to explain the reasons for the vast disparities between American and Dutch sexual health indicators. This article reviews the book's key conclusions and discusses their implications for parents, educators, and policy…

Twenty parents attending an urban community college were interviewed about how they respond to common questions children ask about sexuality. Parental responses to children's questions about sexuality were considered in relation to the authoritative and authoritarian patterns of communication identified by Baumrind (1967). The majority of parents…

African American youth are at risk for negative sexual behaviors such as early initiation and unplanned pregnancy. The purpose of the article is to identify the effective parent connectedness components in sexuality education interventions solely targeting African American youth. A total of 12 articles were found describing six intervention…

We examined parental perspectives about parent-child sexual communication through four focus groups conducted with 25 parents of young children. Participant comments fell into six areas: 1) personal experience with sexuality education, 2) current sexuality education efforts, 3) comfort and confidence, 4) content and timing, 5) importance of a…

Parental sex education might promote healthy sexual behavior among adolescents, but some parents assume that family communication about sex will lead to sexual activity. Family sex communication has been studied with a limited range of adolescent sexual behaviors but not sexual fantasy or desire. Two measures of family sex communication were…

This study investigated sexuality topics discussed by parents, sources of sexuality education, sexual risk behaviors, and attitudes about who should educate children about sexuality among a sample of 204 adult Latinas. Nearly half of sexually active women (having ever had sex) reported condom use and 36.7% reported discussing sexual history with…

This study investigated the communication and initial sexuality education between parents and children as it relates to later sexual activity. The study asked 192 undergraduate college students from a Midwestern state university their perceptions about past communication with their parents regarding sexuality. The students completed a 180-item…

With schools' emphasis on abstinence-only-until-marriage sexuality education, parents' roles as sexuality educators are becoming increasingly important to ensure positive sexual health outcomes for young people. However, research suggests that most American adults have limited basic sexual health knowledge. This lack of knowledge negatively…

In this article, we describe the Set the P.A.C.E.! (Parents And Children Empowered) curriculum designed for mothers of children 6-12 years of age. The development of the curriculum was part of a research study to test an intervention to enhance the mother's role in promoting resilience among 6- to 12-year-old children and to reduce the risk of…

In February of 2004, the Department of Human Development/Family Studies at the University of Delaware hosted the Austrian Institute of Family Studies. Social worker Olaf Kapella and psychologist Brigitte Cizek presented their LoveTalks workshop which is a model for the community supported sex education program in Austria. The workshop leaders were…

Purpose: To examine whether gender and birth control use are associated with premarital sexual attitudes, beliefs about peers, family communication about sexual relationships, and sexuality education among sexually experienced youth. Methods: Data were collected from a randomly selected ethnically diverse youth sample (N = 1,253). Only the…

Today, the media, policy makers, educators, and parents are all talking about abstinence. Unfortunately, these groups often do not define the term or assume a singular, limited definition. However, each group and possibly each individual have a different definition of the word. In this environment of confusion and miscommunication, it is essential…