Communication about Sexuality between Mothers and Their Adolescent Children: Mothers’ Perspective

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the communication about sexuality between mothers and their adolescent children according to the view of mothers. Methods: This is a descriptive study. The study was carried out in three primary health care centers in a city where is the Central Anatolia. The study group was 273 women who applied to the centers for using services and have boys and girls between ages 14-17. A questionnaire that questions the socio-demographic characteristics of mothers and their talking about sexual issues with their children and frequency of talking and talking subjects was used to collect data. The data were collected by researchers with face-to-face interview in centers. Logistic regression analyze was used for statistical analyses. Results: It was find out that there was a limited sexual communication between mothers and their children, they were not very comfortable in communication about sexual issues and the most frequent talking topics were about growing and most infrequent ones were about sexual intercourse. The most important factors for not talking about sexual issues were young age of mothers, having boy, living in extended family, low level of socioeconomic status and low level of education of their own and husband, thinking that sexual education was not necessary and perceived their sexual knowledge was not sufficient. Conclusions: It seems important that nurses should evaluate the view of the parents about sexuality and follow-up the families and adolescents who are in risk groups closer.

Keywords

• Sexual communication,adolescent,mother

ANNELER VE ADOLESAN ÇOCUKLARI ARASINDA CİNSELLİK KONUSUNDA İLETİŞİM: ANNELERİN BAKIŞ AÇISI

Abstract

Amaç: Çalışmanın amacı anneler ve adolesan çocukları arasında cinsellikle ilgili iletişimi annelerin bakış açısı ile incelemektir. Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı bir çalışmadır. İç Anadolu Bölgesi’ndeki bir ilde bulunan üç sağlık ocağı bölgesinde çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneğini sağlıkocağına hizmet almak amacı ile başvuran 14-17 yaş arası kız/erkek çocuğubulunan 273 anne oluşturmuştur. Verilerin toplanmasında annelerin sosyodemografik özellikleri, cinsellik konusunda çocukları ile konuşma durumu,sıklığı ve konuşma konularını sorgulayan bir anket formu kullanılmıştır.Araştırma verileri sağlık ocağında yüzü yüze görüşülerek araştırmacılar tarafından toplanmıştır. İstatistiksel analizde Logistik regresyon analizi yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Bulgular: Anneler ve çocukları arasında cinsellik konusunda sınırlı düzeydebir iletişim olduğu ve iletişimde çok rahat olmadıkları ve sık konuşulan konuların büyüme gelişme ile ilgili ve en az konuşulanların cinsel ilişki ile ilgili olduğu bulunmuştur. Cinsellik konusunda konuşmama konusundakiönemli faktörlerin annenin yaşının genç olması, erkek çocuğu sahip olması,geniş ailede yaşaması, sosyoekonomik düzeyinin, eşi ve kendisinin eğitimdüzeyinin düşük olması, cinsel sağlık eğitiminin gerekli olmadığını düşünmesi ve yeterli bilgiye sahip olmamasıdır. Sonuç: Hemşirelerin ailelerin cinsellik konusuna bakış açılarını değerlendirmeleri ve özellikle risk grubunda yer alan anneler ve adolesan çocuklarını daha yakından izlemeleri önemli görünmektedir

Keywords

• Cinsellikle ilgili iletişim,adolesan,anne

References

1. Aras S, Semin S, Günay T, Orcın E, Ozan S (2007) Sexual attitudes and risk taking behaviors of high school students in Turkey. Journal of School He- alth 77, 359-366.
2. Aspy CB, Vesely SK, Oman RF, Rodine S, Marshall L, McLeroy K(2007) Parental communica- tion and youth sexual bahaviour Journal of Adolescent 30(3), 449-66.
3. Annie Kao T-S, Guthrie B, Loveland-Cherry C (2007) An intergenerational approach to understan- ding Taiwanese American adolescent girls’ and their mothers’ perceptions about sexual health. Journal of Family Nursing 13(3), 312-332.
4. Bulut F, Gölbaşı Z (2009) Adolesan kızların cin- sellikle ilgili konularda anneleri ile olan iletişimlerinin değerlendirilmesi. TAF Prev Med Bull 8 (1), 27-36.
5. Dıttus PJ, Jaccard J(2000) Adolescents’ percep- tions of maternal disapproval of sex: Relationship to sexual outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Health 26, 268-278.
6. Dilorio C, Kelley M, Hockenberry-Eaton M (1999) Communication about sexual ıssues: Mothers, fathers and friends. Journal of Adolescent Health 24, 181-189.
7. DuRant RH, Wolfson M, LaFrance B, Balkrish- nan R, Altman D(2006) An evaluation of a mass me- dia campaign to encourage parents of adolescents to talk to their children about sex. Journal of Adolescent Health 38(3), 298.e1-298.e9
8. Ege E, Akın B, Altuntuğ K(2008) Opinions of midwifery students on adolescent sexuality and repro- ductive health in Turkey. Social Behaviour & Perso- nality 36(7), 965-972.

9. Feldman SS, Rosenthdal DA(2000) The effect of communication characteristics on family members’ perceptions of parents as sex communicators. Journal of Res Adolesc 10, 119-150.
10. Gallegos EC, Villarruel AM, Gomez MV, Onof- re DJ, Zou Y(2007) Research brief: Sexual commu- nication and knowledge among Mexican parents and their adolescent children. Journal of Association of Nurses In Aids Care (18) 2, March, 28-34.
11. Guillamo-Ramos V, Jaccard J, Dittus P, Collins S(2008) Parent-adolescent communication about se- xual intercourse: an analaysis of maternal reluctance to communicate. Health Psychology 27(6), 760-9.
12. Huebner AJ, Howell LW(2003) Examining the relationship between adolescent sexual risk-taking and perceptions of monitoring, communication, and paren- ting styles. Journal of Adolescent Health 33, 71-78.
13. Hutchinson MK, Montgomery AJ(2007) Parent communication and sexual risk among African Ameri- cans. Western Journal of Nursing Research (29) 6, 691-707.
14. Hutchinson MK, Wood EB(2007) Reconceptu- alizing adolescent sexual risk in a parent-based expan- sion of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Nur- sing Scholarship (39)2, 141-146.
15. İnce N, Uğurlu F, Özyıldırım B(2006) Effective- ness of various educational methods on AIDS and stig- ma in adolescent in the Silivri district of İstanbul. İs- tanbul Medical Faculty Journal 69(3), 63-69.
16. Jordan TR, Price JH, Fitzgerald S(2000) Rural parents’ communication with their teen-agers about sexual issues. Journal of School Health 70(8), 338-44.
17. Klein JD, Sabaratnam MPH, Pazos B, Auer- bach MM, Havens CG, Brach MJ(2005) Evaluati- on of parents as primary sexuality educators program. Journal of Adolescent Health 37, 894-899.
18. Kotva HJ, Schneider HG(1990) Those “talks”: General and sexual communication between mothers and daughters. Journal of Social Behavior 5, 603-613.
19. Korkmaz Çetin S, Bildik T, Erermiş S, Demiral N, Özbaşaran B, Tamar M, Aydın C(2008) Erkek ergenlerde cinsel davranış ve cinsel bilgi kaynakları: Sekiz yıl arayla değerlendirme. Türk Psikiyatri Dergi- si 19(4), 390-397.
20. Köker S, Evrengöl S, Canat S(1994) Ergenlerin ana babaları ile iletişimlerini algılama düzeyleri. Ço- cuk ve Ergen Ruh Sağlığı Dergisi 1(2), 75-78.
21. Lwanga SK, Lemeshow S(1991) Sample size de- termination in health studies-A practical manuel. World Health Organization, Geneva.
22. Martino SC, Elliot MN, Corona R, Kanouse DE, Schuster MA(2008) Beyond the “big talk”: The roles of breadth and repetition in parent-adolescent communication about sexual topics. Pediatrics 121(3), e612-8.
23. Miller KS, Kotchick BA, Dorsey S, Forehand R, Ham AY(1998) Family communication about sex: What are parents saying are their adolescents liste- ning? Family Planning Perspectives (30)5, 218-222.
24. McDermott Sales J, Milhausen RR, Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ, Salazar LF, Crosby RA (2006) Validation of a parent-adolescent communica- tion scale for use in STD/HIV prevention interventi- ons. 101177/1090198106293524. DOI
25. Namisi FS, Flisher AJ, Overland S, Bastien S, Onya H, Kaaya S, Aaro LE(2009) Sociodemograp- hic variations in communication on sexuality and HIV/AIDS with parents, family members and teachers among in-school adolescents: A multi-site study in Tanzania and South Africa. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health Jun;37 Suppl 2: 65-74.
26. Ogle S, Glasier A, Riley SC(2008) Communica- tion between parents and their children about sexual health. Contraception 77, 283-288.
27. Özcebe H, Sömez R, Akıncı Ö, Baycu Ş, Kara- çay D, Kargın S, Mahmut Ö, Öz ÖO(2002) Adole- sanlar ve anneleri arasındaki iletişim. [Electronic ver- sion]. Hacettepe Toplum Hekimliği Bülteni 23(3).
28. Pluhar EI, DiIorio CK, McCarty F(2008) Cor- relates of sexuality communication among mothers and 6-12-year-old children. Child Care Health Dev 34(3), 283-90.
29. Raffaelli M, Green S(2003) Parent-adolescent communication about sex: Retrospective reports by Latino College Student. Journal of Marriage and Fa- mily 65(May), 474–481.
30. Raffaelli M, Ontai(2001) ‘‘She’s 16 years old and there’s boys calling over to the house’’: An explora- tory study of sexual socialization in Latino families. Culture, Health, and Sexuality 3, 295–310.
31. Rob U, Ghafur T, Bhuiya I, Talukder N(2006) Reproductive and sexual health education for adoles- cents in Bangladesh: Parents’ view and opinion. Inter- national Q Community Health Education 25(4), 351- 65.
32. Rosenthal DA, Feldman SS(1999) The importan- ce of importance: The differentiated nature of parent- adolescent communication about sexuality. Journal of Adolescence 22, 835-852.
33. Rosenthal DA, Feldman SS, Edwards D(1998) Mum’s the word: Mothers’ perspectives on communi- cation about sexuality with adolescents. Journal of Adolescence 21, 727-743.
34. Rosenthal DA, Senserrick T, Feldman S(2001) A typology approach to describing parents as commu- nicators about sexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior 30(5), 463-482.
35. Sandfort, T, Ehrhardt, A(2004) Sexual health: A useful public health paradigm or a moral imperative? Archives of Sexual Behavior 33(3), 181-187.
36. Wilson HW, Donenberg G(2004) Quality of pa- rent communication about sex and its relationship to risky sexual behavior among youth in psychiatric care: A pilot study. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45(2), 387–395.