Parent-Teen Communication: Toward the Prevention of Unintended Pregnancies.

Parent-teen communication has been underestimated in its impact on preventing unintended pregnancies. The goal of this monograph is to identify the methodological and conceptual weaknesses in past research and to apply these consideration in the analysis of data. The emphasis is on parent-teen communication about premarital sex and premarital pregnancy and the development of parent education programs. The focus is on what parents say and do to motivate their children to avoid premarital pregnancy. The scope of the problem of teenage pregnancy is viewed as well as the literature on parent-teen communication about birth control and premarital sexual intercourse. A sample of 210 couples from Albany New York with a child between the ages of 12 and 16 years living with them was studied. Most were white middle-class suburban households. Parental questionnaires assessed the reservations parents had in talking about not having premarital sex opinions about teenage birth control and abstinence and an expansive inventory of opinions reasoning evaluation self-description teenagers description background parenting practices communication techniques locus of control family environment and family relationships. Teen questionnaires evaluated their parents ability to communicate and deal with their teens education about sexual issues their sexual behavior and use of contraceptives. Conclusions in the correlation analysis for instance were that parent education programs are important in promoting responsible sexual behavior in helping parents communicate and find an appropriate time to have a discussion and in teaching parental social skills effective reasoning and guides in discussing permissible sex. Prior research has been biased toward teenagers views has used crude measures and has not considered specific strategies or content in reasoning with teenagers or parental sexual views or context.