Influence of teens' perceptions of parental disapproval and peer behaviour on their initiation of sexual intercourse.

ABSTRACT: This study of 2,353 grade 10 and 12 students asked whether their perceptions of parental approval/disapproval of their having sexual intercourse would predict whether or not they had ever had intercourse. Weil over half of these students anticipated parental disapproval and 44% of the total sample had ever had intercourse. Logistic regression analyses showed no predictive effect of perceived parental disapproval on intercourse experience whereas students' perceptions of the sexual intercourse experience of same sex and other sex friends was predictive for both sexes. Females were significantly more likely than males to anticipate fathers' disapproval but the sexes did not differ with respect to mothers' disapproval. Students most often cited personal experience, friends and parents as main or preferred sources of information about healthy dating and relationships but generally favoured schools for information on pregnancy and STI prevention. The findings may suggest ways to support the potentially mutually reinforcing roles of schools, peers and parents in adolescent sexual health.

Key words: Teens Sexual intercourse Parental disapproval Peer influence Gender differences

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, parents have been viewed as having a primary influence on adolescents' sexual behaviours (Miller et al., 1998; Newcomer & Udry, 1984). In a summary of two decades of research about family influences on the risk of adolescents becoming pregnant or causing a pregnancy, Miller, Benson and Galbraith (2001) suggest that researchers consistently find that parent/child closeness or connectedness, parental supervision or regulation of children's activities, and parents' values against teen intercourse decrease the risk of adolescent pregnancy. While several biological factors (timing of pubertal development, hormone levels, and genes) are also related to adolescent pregnancy risk, these factors are impossible or difficult to change, so research focusing on family influence as a key proximal determinant is a useful focus for potential interventions. In this study, we investigated the influence of various parental communication variables (perception of parental disapproval, quality and content of sexual communication) as well as perception of peer sexual activity on Grade 10 and 12 students' sexual behaviour.

PARENTAL COMMUNICATION

Perception of parental approval/disapproval of teen sexual activity is considered a parental communication variable in Miller et al.'s (2001) mediated conceptual model of family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk. They conclude that parental attitudes and values disapproving of adolescent sexual intercourse are related to lower adolescent pregnancy risk. While some studies have found a relationship between perceived parental disapproval and decreased sexual health risk (Resnick, Bearman, Blum, Bauman, Harris et al., 1997; Romer, Stanton, Galbraith, Feigelman Black, & Li, 1999), others have found that perception of parental (particularly mother) disapproval of teen sex is inversely related to onset of intercourse (Jaccard, Dittus, & Gordon, 1998; Somers & Paulson, 2000). The present study continues this line of inquiry by asking Grade 10 and 12 students about the extent to which they think their mothers and fathers would approve or disapprove of their having sexual intercourse.

In addition to perception of parental disapproval, quality of communication with parents and closeness of the relationship with parents appear to be among the other important aspects of parent-child communication that are related to lower levels of adolescent pregnancy. Many researchers conclude that parent/teen closeness combined with open, positive, and frequent parent/child communication about sex are associated with adolescents' abstinence, postponing sexual debut, having fewer sexual partners, and more consistent contraceptive use (Barnett, Papini, & Gbur, 1991; Gupta, Weiss, & Mane, 1996; Karofsky, Zeng, & Kosovok, 2000; Miller et al., 2001; Romer et al., 1999). Communication and family connectedness are logically related because parents' values are most effectively transmitted when they have a close relationship. A common finding in the literature is that adolescents (particularly female) want to talk to parents about sexual health (Young Pistella & Bonati, 1999; Youniss, 1989) and teens who perceive that they have a better level of communication with their parents have been found to be less likely to engage in sexual intercourse (Karofsky et al., 2000). Unfortunately, parents are generally rated by teens as problematic or ineffective communicators and very few parents report being comfortable discussing sex (Feldman & Rosenthal, 2000; Rosenthal & Feldman, 1999; Rosenthal, Senserrick, & Feldman, 2001; Whitaker, Miller, May, & Levin, 1999). Process and content of communication by parents are related. Empirical findings suggest that when the process of sexual communication with mothers is more open and receptive, the frequency of sexual risk-taking behaviour is lower; when content of communication is higher, risk-taking is lower (Dutra, Miller, & Forehand, 1999). However, in the Dutra et al. (1999) study, neither fathers' process or content of communication predicted frequency of risk-taking behaviour. These researchers did find that sexual communication is a family variable; that is, content and process of sexual communication was significantly correlated across mothers and fathers. The present study included these parental communication variables by asking our female and male participants whether it was easy to talk with their parents about sex (process) and whether they did not want their parents to know that they were having sex (content). References to "having sex" hereafter mean sexual intercourse unless otherwise stated.

GENDER DIFFERENCES

Consistent gender differences have been found in all aspects of parental communication about sexuality (Kirby, 1995; Romer et al., 1999). Several studies have found that, although rates of parent-teen sexual risk communication are generally low, mothers play a more pivotal role in sexual communication than fathers and girls receive more communication than boys (Rosenthal et al., 2001). Both process and content of sexual communication with mothers but not fathers have predicted adolescent risk-taking behaviour (Dutra et al., 1999; Hutchinson & Cooney, 1998). Fathers are generally rated as poorer communicators about sexuality than mothers, yet fathers are rated as slightly better communicators with boys, suggesting parents adjust communication to the gender of the teen (Rosenthal, Senserrick, & Feldman 2001; Rosenthal & Feldman, 1999; Fisher, 1990; Miller, Norton, Fan, & Christopherson, 1998). Mothers are more likely to discuss HIV/STI risk than sexual behaviours, contraceptive use, or physical development with teens. Fathers are most likely to communicate about condom use and STI prevention with sons (Miller et al., 1998). Quality of communication with parents appears to be more influential on female sexual activity, with higher quality of communication with parents being associated with lower sexual intentions and sexual behaviours. In the case of males, the quality of parent/child communication is usually found to have no significant effect on intentions or behaviour (Miller et al., 1998). Not only do mothers communicate more with teens about sex, but female and male teens also discuss sexual topics more frequently with mothers than with fathers (Dilorio, Kelly, & Hockenberry-Eaton, 1999). However, male adolescents are more likely than female adolescents to discuss sex-based topics with their friends than with their mothers. In the present study, we asked female and male students to choose, from a list of options, what they consider to have been their main source of sexual information on each of three topics: healthy dating relationships, pregnancy prevention, and STI prevention. They were also asked for their preferred source of information on each topic with the understanding, as above, that they could cite a different source for each topic to determine whether parents serve as current or preferred sources of information for females and males for these various topics. In the context of the present study, our interest was in the place of parents in these choices.

PEER INFLUENCE

Research on peer influence on sexual initiation reflects the idea that adolescents' decisions about whether or not to initiate sexual activity are strongly bound to social context, with peers playing an important role in creating a sense of normative behaviour. Social influence theory (Romer, Black, Ricardo, Feigelman, Kaljee et al., 1994; Costa, Jessor, Donovan, & Fortenberry, 1995) as well as peer norms have been used to explain initiation of sexual activity among adolescents (Brewster, 1994; DiClemente, Lodico, Grinstead et al., 1996; Furstenberg, Morgan, Moore, & Peterson, 1987). Empirical research suggests a strong relationship between perception of number of friends who had initiated sexual activity and teens' sexual behaviours (Kinsmen, Romer, Furstenberg, & Schwartz, 1998; Romer et al., 1999). Youth who report greater peer involvement in sex and more positive sex outcome expectancies have been found to be more likely to initiate sex at a younger age (O'Donnell, Myrint, O'Donnell, & Stueve, 2003). Adolescents with large networks and many opposite-gender friends are more likely to have a romantic relationship than other adolescents, suggesting that cliques (same gender) and crowds (mixed-sex) function to provide access to heterosexual romantic partners and a context in which dating is initiated (Connolly & Johnson, 1996; Connolly, Furman, & Konarski, 2000). Few studies have separated perception of peer activity by gender, i.e., perception of numbers of female vs. male friends who have had sexual intercourse. There is some evidence to suggest that females are more likely than males to perceive that a larger proportion of their peers are engaging in sex and using birth control and to perceive less peer pressure for sex and more support for abstinence (DeGaston, Weed, & Jenson, 1996). As recommended in the literature (Nahom, Wells, Gillmore, Hoppe, Morrison et al., 2001), the present study asked participants for their perception of number of female and male friends who have had sex.

FAMILY VS. PEER INFLUENCE

High risk peer associations are included as mediating variables in Miller et al.'s (2001; 2002) conceptual model of family relationships and pregnancy risk. They conclude that family influence plays a role, but does not account for all of the variance. Although parents can have some influence, many antecedents influence whether adolescents have intercourse or …