Predictors Of Parental Comfort In Educating Their Children About Sexuality

We investigated predictors of parental comfort with young children and adolescent sexual learning. A nonclinical sample of fathers (n=70) and mothers (n=150) was utilized. Predictors of parental comfort were garnered from the Sexual Attitudes Scale (Hudson, et al., 1983), the Sexual Opinions Survey (Fisher, et al., 1988), the Sex Education Inventory (Bennett & Dickenson, 1980), the Questionnaire on Young Children’s Sexual Learning (Brick & Koch, 1996) and the Questionnaire on Adolescent’s Sexual Learning. Preliminary analysis of the first cohort of fathers (n=28) and mothers (n=74) found that comfort with young children’s sexual learning was significantly related to general rapport with one’s own father, sex-related rapport with one’s own father, knowledge of young children’s sexual learning, positive attitudes about young children’s sexual learning and more liberal attitudes toward sexuality in general. Comfort with adolescent’s sexual learning was significantly related to general rapport with one’s own father, sex-related rapport with father, and general rapport with one’s own mother. Analyses are ongoing with the larger sample, including comparisons of those with young children vs. those with adolescents. Interestingly, knowledge and a more liberal attitude toward sexuality were found to significantly promote comfort with young children, but not with adolescent’s sexual knowledge. Parents in the initial sample analysis were found to have average knowledge of both young children and adolescent sexuality, but the link of knowledge to comfort for adolescents may be more complex