Freedom’s Just Another Word for Less Sexually Active Teens
By Randy Dotinga, Contributing WriterJuly 23, 2008
Sophisticated statistical research is providing more evidence of a link
between rigid parenting and increased sexual activity in older teens.
Although it is difficult to confirm that controlling mothers and fathers cause
kids to have more sex, the findings suggest it is wise to give children freedom,
said Rebekah Levine Coley, lead author of a new study of nearly 5,000 U.S.
teenagers. Coley is an associate professor of applied developmental and
educational psychology at Boston College.
“Warm, more democratic relationships — in which parents do not use negative
and psychologically controlling behaviors — could help parents to communicate
values, increase adolescents’ identification with their parents, help youth to
develop healthy decision-making skills and also keep youth away from negative
peer influences,” Coley said.
According to the researchers, more than two of every three American teens has
sexual intercourse before age 19.
Researchers have previously studied how family life affects teens, but the
findings were “suggestive but not definitive” and did not reveal which
techniques work the best, Coley said.
In the new study, Coley and colleagues examined the results of an annual survey
of American teens born between 1980 and 1984. The researchers looked at the
survey results for 4,980 teens and used a number of statistical techniques to
try to pinpoint the effects of various parenting styles.
They report their findings in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent
Health.
Regular family activities — “things like eating dinner together as a family
or engaging in fun activities or religious activities together” — seemed to
make sexual activity less likely, Coley said.
Children also seemed to be less sexually active if their parents did not engage
in “negative and psychologically controlling behaviors.”
However, the research did not confirm a direct cause-and-effect relationship
between parenting styles and teen sexual activity. Researchers would be unable
to find such a relationship unless they randomly assigned different families to
raise children, Coley said.
The new study offers a “simple and clear message” about the importance of
parenting, said Don Operario, a professor at Oxford University in England.
Operario studies health and social issues.
While some recent research has focused on how the media and peers affect the sex
lives of adolescents, he said, this study “reminds us of the foundational role
of parents in determining whether their teens engage in risky sexual
behaviors.”
What should parents do? “This research is not necessarily saying to parents:
‘Go and talk to your teens about sex and counsel them on condom use,
pregnancy, HIV and delaying sex,’” Operario said. “It is saying:
‘Support your teens, spend time with them, be less critical and controlling
and more nurturing in their adolescent development. This, in turn, can help them
make more informed, safe decisions about sexual activity.’”
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: Lisa Esposito at (202) 387-2829 or hbns-editor@cfah.org.
Journal of Adolescent Health: Contact Tor Berg at (415) 502-1373 or tor.berg@ucsf.edu
or visit www.jahonline.org
Coley RL, Medeiros BL, Schindler SL. Using sibling differences to estimate
effects of parenting on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Journal of
Adolescent Health 43(2), 2008.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Center for the Advancement of Health
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Health Behavior News Service
Contact: Lisa Esposito, Editor
202.387.2829
hbns-editor@cfah.org