Familial communication and adolescent sexual behavior

Janet R. Kahn, Elizabeth J. Roberts, Radcliffe College. Henry A. Murray Research Center

This study is a follow-up of Roberts' Family Life and Sexual Learning (A521) and was conducted in collaboration with Roberts. The purpose of the study was to examine parent-child communication patterns and their relationship to adolescent sexual behavior. In 1977 a survey of almost 1,500 parents of 3- to 11-year-old children was conducted by Roberts. In 1983, the current researcher recontacted the sample in order to interview the children, currently adolescents, and to gather new data from the parents. Three hundred twenty-six adolescents participated; two-thirds were from families whose parents had taken part in the first study, and one-third comprised a supplemental sample. One-half of the adolescents were girls; 271 teens were white, the remainder were minorities. Their ages ranged between 11 and 19 years. Two hundred thirty-three mothers and 183 fathers completed questionnaires....