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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Parents' Awareness of Their Adolescents' Sexual Behaviors and Experiences: A Concordance Analysis
Hannah Javidi1, Jharna Katara2, Stephanie Dickinson2
1Department of Psychology, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina; Center of Excellence for Integrative Health Disparities and Equity Research, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina; Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana; Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana.
Purpose:
Adolescence is a developmental period during which sexual exploration is normative. Parental awareness of adolescents' sexual behaviors can be protective during this stage; however, research suggests both parents and adolescents tend to avoid open conversations about these sensitive issues. This study aimed to examine concordance between parent proxy-reports and adolescent self-reports across three domains of adolescents' sexual behaviors and experiences.
Methods:
Data were collected from a national sample of 522 parent-adolescent dyads (aged 15-17 years) from the AmeriSpeak panel (data collected May-September 2022). Prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) statistics were calculated to evaluate agreement.
Results:
Findings revealed weak-to-moderate concordance regarding adolescents sending and receiving sexual photos (PABAKs = 0.54-0.79), whereas stronger concordance was observed for experiences related to nonconsensual sharing of sexual photos (PABAKs = 0.92-0.94), with high agreement largely driven by low reported prevalence of these experiences. Strong concordance regarding whether adolescents had ever had sex (PABAK = 0.80) was largely driven by both parents and adolescents reporting the adolescent had not had sex. Concordance regarding sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy prevention methods varied, ranging from weak to strong agreement across specific methods (or lack thereof; PABAKs = -0.07-0.79).
Discussion:
Results highlight significant discrepancies in parents' knowledge about their adolescents' sexual behaviors and experiences. Interventions aimed at enhancing trust and open dialogue between parents and adolescents about sexuality-related topics, as well as ensuring adolescents have a variety of trusted sources to consult for sexual information, can help adolescents make informed sexual health decisions.
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