Informing Parent Education Programs on Teaching Kids about Sex-Related Topics
Tl;dr I led 11 distinct cross-functional teams in conducting foundational generative research to inform parent education programs that support caregivers in teaching their children about sex-related topics. This project involved collecting 5 primary datasets, analyzing 5 secondary datasets, analyzing data using a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods, and resulted in the publication of 14 peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles (plus 4 in progress). Through our findings, we identified the current state of parent-child sex education, what sex education children want from their parents, the outcomes of parent-child sex education, and main barriers that parents face in educating their children about sex-related topics, including target groups that would likely benefit the most from parent education on this topic. Our findings were handed off to program developers and educators and have been integrated throughout 4 in-person and online educational products and services that teach parents how to talk with children about sex-related topics as well as 3 university human sexuality courses and featured in 5 news articles and 2 podcasts.
Project Background and Goals
Parent-child sexual communication (PCSC) is a fancy phrase and acronym for parents or caregivers teaching their children about sex-related topics. We have evidence that PCSC leads to better outcomes for children as they enter adolescence and young adulthood, but many parents struggle engaging in PCSC and often don't meet children's needs for sex education. We also have evidence that parent-facing education programs can help parents improve and increase PCSC.
However, with only an immature body of research exploring the specifics of PCSC, education programs and products aimed at supporting parents in engaging in PCSC are likely falling short of parents' and children's (users') true needs and missing key pain points. We needed more foundational research to develop parent educational programs and products that truly meet users' needs related to PCSC!
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Therefore, the overall goal of this project was to establish a body of foundational research that could be applied and integrated into parent education programs with the ultimate vision of increasing high quality PCSC, thereby increasing children's well-being. More specifically, our goal was to identify what parents (and children) needed from PCSC education programs and what should be included in these programs.
We broke this larger goal into answering 4 research questions:
1. What is the current state of PCSC?
2. What do children want and need from PCSC?
3. What are the outcomes of PCSC?
4. What barriers do parents face to engaging in PCSC?
Challenges
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No existing research team to take on this multi-faceted project. As this was a novel initiative, I recruited and built research teams from scratch both from existing contacts and making new connections. In total, I recruited 29 cross-functional collaborators to contribute to this project.
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No existing funding streams to pay for participant recruitment or research labor. I wrote and submitted 9 grants to fund this project, and in total was granted $21,811 for data collection and analysis.
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Sensitive topic area. Not everyone wants to talk with a researcher or answer a survey about sex-related topics, their parenting, or their own sexual experiences. Throughout participant recruitment and data collection, we took extra steps to use participatory design, build rapport with participants from the get-go, and establish safety and credibility in our advertising materials.
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Technologies used: Qualtrics, Prolific, NVivo, SPSS, MPlus, AMOS, Microsoft Office, Canva, Zoom, Google Suite
Research Methods
Our research method for this project involved a multi-faceted and multi-method approach. We used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and triangulated our results using samples of parents, young adults, and teenagers. We intentionally targeted two studies to intersex young adults and Black mothers as these groups are severely under-represented in PCSC research.
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We used the following mixed methods data:
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We collected 5 primary datasets: 561 parents, 29 Black moms, 278 college students, 246 young adults, and 28 intersex young adults
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We analyzed 5 secondary datasets: 603 mother-child dyads, 351 college students, 2,556 young adults, 90 college-attending women, and 38 college students
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We synthesized findings from 403 previously published studies
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We used the following data collection methods:
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Focus groups, 1:1 interviews, online surveys, desk research
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Participatory design:
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We included two intersex advocates from interACT (a human rights organization) from the start of our study interviewing intersex young adults. Advocates co-created the study design and analysis plan and provided public endorsement for our project.
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We intentionally built a research team that was majority Black mothers and women for designing and executing all stages of our study exploring Black mothers' PCSC. We intentionally chose team members who were Black mothers and women to conduct all interviews with Black mothers.
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I analyzed these data using a variety of mixed methods:
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Quantitative: Descriptive statistics, correlations, Chi-square tests, t-tests, Fisher's exact tests, ANOVA, logistic regression, multiple regression, multinomial regression, path analysis, latent class analysis, common fate structural equation modeling
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Qualitative: Affinity diagramming/mapping, content analysis, thematic analysis, consensual qualitative research (CQR)
Crucial Findings
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What is the current state of PCSC?
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If parents talk with children about sex-related topics, it's most commonly about basic anatomy and STI/pregnancy prevention, parents' and children's romantic and sexual experiences (not in detail), and abstinence or delaying sexual activity
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Often PCSC is awkward, vague, indirect, and communicated in a lecture style using scare tactics
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Parents are initiating conversations about sex-related topics much later than experts recommend​
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Parents provide children with a mix of messages, some that uphold systems of oppression (e.g., sexism, queerphobia) and are based in shame vs. some that challenge systems of oppression and are shame-free
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Parents use a variety of explicit and implicit communication strategies to teach children about sex-related topics (e.g., lectures, modeling behavior)
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Parents want and need more resources to learn how to improve PCSC
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What do children want and need from PCSC?
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Teenagers and young adults wish that PCSC was open, regular, organic, supportive, direct, shame-free, medically accurate, comprehensive of emotional and social aspects of sex, queer-affirming and -inclusive, allowed for two-way dialogue between parents and child, started early, and included parents' experiences
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What are the outcomes of PCSC?
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High quality PCSC is associated with increased holistic sexual well-being in young adulthood​
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The values parents communicate in PCSC are associated with children's sexual beliefs and behaviors in young adulthood
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Open and frequent PCSC is associated with teenagers opening up and keeping fewer secrets from their parents
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What barriers do parents face to engaging in PCSC?
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Common barriers to PCSC include: low perceived self-efficacy in teaching kids about sex, beliefs that others wouldn't approve of PCSC, beliefs that PCSC won't have a positive impact on the child, having limited exposure to sexual violence experiences, having a different gender than your child, being straight and/or a cisgender man, fear of exposing children to sex-related topics too early, cognitive dissonance, queerphobic and misogynistic beliefs, social norms of silence around sex-related topics, reciprocal reluctance from parent and child to start these conversations
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My Recommendations
Based on our findings, I recommended that parent educational programs aiming at improving PCSC do the following:
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Help parents understand the importance of beginning PCSC in toddlerhood and build their skills in having age-appropriate conversations
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Help parents build skills to engage in open, conversational, comfortable, and shame-free PCSC about a much wider range of topics
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Help parents understand the impact that PCSC can have on children in later life
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Help parents harmful deconstruct beliefs that negatively impact their children (e.g., queerphobia, sexism, racism, ablesim)
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Help parents build beliefs that they're capable of engaging in PCSC, others will approve of PCSC, and PCSC will have positive outcomes
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Target groups of parents that have been shown to have increased barriers to PCSC, particularly cisgender men and straight parents
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Create a wide array of PCSC resources for parents accessible in multiple formats from various avenues
Impact
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Application of our findings and recommendations in 4 in-person and online educational products and services:
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University of Tennessee grant-funded program helping religious parents teach their kids about sex-related topics
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Kansas State University grant-funded program involving parents and children in relationship and sexuality education
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Relevate, a non-profit organization that uses digital products to spread relationship science findings
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Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood communication initiative to spread relationship science findings
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Integration of our findings into 3 university courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels at Kansas State University and University of Connecticut
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Our research projects and findings were featured in 5 news articles and 2 research communication podcast episodes
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Publication of 14 scholarly articles in 6 peer-reviewed scientific journals, including 1 article in which I reviewed the state of PCSC research and advocated for a shift to better account for systems of oppression (e.g., racism, ableism, sexism, queerphobia) and trauma in our research
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Creation of a public-facing research report summarizing our findings
from our dataset of 561 parents -
26 presentations of our research findings at international research conferences, university courses, and to Kansas state legislators
My Learnings
My Learnings
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You probably have more assets than you think. When I started this project, I had no money and no team members. But I did have existing connections in multiple psychology-related fields, a strong ability to build relationships, and a strong ability to advocate for the importance of this research. I used these assets to acquire the more tangible assets I needed to execute this project: money and team members.
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Mixed methods research is invaluable! Using both qualitative and quantitative methods allowed us to explore statistical relationships, quantifiable patterns, and deeper feelings and beliefs behind PCSC. This allowed us to paint a much richer picture of the phenomenon of PCSC than we could have done with only one of these methods alone.
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We need to explore and understand human behavior across the diverse range of cultures and identities. Exploring a phenomenon with only participants with privileged identities (e.g., White, able-bodied, cisgender) does not capture the diversity of how a phenomenon is experienced. By intentionally sampling under-represented groups, we uncovered mountains of new information about how people with minoritized identities experience PCSC. For example, Black mothers described the challenge of teaching their daughters about the intersection of racism and sexism (e.g., hypersexualization of Black women's bodies) as part of PCSC, something we would have never uncovered by only sampling White mothers.
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Applying critical lenses to our work studying human behavior is crucial. It's not enough to include under-represented groups in our research. We have to attend to historical roots of oppression, our own privileges and social locations, and power dynamics between privileged and oppressed groups and individuals in society. Without using these critical lenses to guide our work, we would have never been able to connect with our participants or build the rapport we needed for them to open up about their experiences on an already sensitive topic. Using critical lenses also allowed us to humanize and experience deep empathy with our participants rather than adhering to social norms of dehumanizing individuals with minoritized and oppressed identities. Doing our own "self of the researcher" work of becoming aware of and challenging our beliefs and biases was crucial to the success of this project.