Let's talk about sex: A dyadic analysis using baseline data from "The Secret of Seven Stones" program on communication between parent and adolescent youth about initiation of sex

Abigail Sedory, The University of Texas School of Public Health

Abstract

“The Secret of Seven Stones” (SSS) is an intergenerational adventure game aimed at improving communication between parents and youth (ages 11-14) about sexual health topics. All previous analyses examined parents and youth separately. The purpose of this study is to analyze factors contributing to the odds of parents and youth ever communicating about initiation of sex using a model known as the Actor-Partner Interdependence model (APIM) which uses a dyadic data structure and accounts for the interdependence between parents and youth. There was a total of 83 usable parent-youth dyads from baseline data of SSS. The actor and partner effects of the APIM were estimated and assessed using multilevel models computed by PROC NLMIXED in SAS. Actor effects for improved quality of parental communication, sex communication self-efficacy, sex communication outcome expectancies, and communication ability were found to significantly increase the odds of ever communicating about initiation of sex, except for emotional outcome expectancies, which decreased the odds. Quality of communication, relational sex communication self-efficacy, and communication ability had significant partner effects. This study applied the dyadic interdependence between parents and their children and revealed factors that could lead to an improvement in parent and youth’s communication about when is the appropriate time to start having sex. This information will inform further analysis and development of adolescent sexual health interventions.

Subject Area

Behavioral Sciences

Recommended Citation

Sedory, Abigail, "Let's talk about sex: A dyadic analysis using baseline data from "The Secret of Seven Stones" program on communication between parent and adolescent youth about initiation of sex" (2016). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI10246525.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI10246525

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