Students' perceptions of parent-adolescent closeness and communication about sexuality: relations with sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs
Published on: October 13, 2017
1Educational Psychology Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.
Abstract:
The main goal of this study was to explore how parent-adolescent closeness and communication about sexuality were associated with three aspects of adolescent sexuality (sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviors). Participants were 157 boys and girls in grades 9 to 12 from two suburban high schools in the Midwest. Canonical correlation analyses revealed two significant combinations of variables. First, younger age and less maternal and paternal communication were related to less sexual behavior and less sexual knowledge. Second, being younger and female and receiving less maternal communication was related to less sexual knowledge and more conservative attitudes. Contrary to expectation, higher levels of parental closeness in conjunction with parental communication did not have a significant influence on these adolescents' sexuality. Given the importance of both age and parental communication in predicting adolescent's sexuality in this study, implications concerning the timing of communication become evident.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Surveys
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth. This guiding role...
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Relationship with Parents: Attachment

