Teenagers and young adults need access to medically accurate, age-appropriate information about sex and relationships. They also need the support of caring adults. Meeting these needs is key not only to their individual physical and emotional wellbeing, but also to advancing gender equality and building a world where everyone has the power to shape the trajectory of their lives.
Senior Research Scientist Jennifer Grossman is investigating who teens talk to about sex and what they are talking about -- and what effect those conversations have on teens’ decision-making down the road about sex and relationships. Grossman’s research has resulted in unique and groundbreaking findings: She found that fathers have an important role to play in their teens’ sexual health, and that teens often talk about sex and relationships with their extended families as well as with their parents. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Transforming her research into action, Grossman co-directed an evaluation of Planned Parenthood’s comprehensive middle school sex education program, which resulted in its designation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an evidence-based program eligible for federal funding. She also shares her work widely with families, educators, policymakers, and the media, ensuring a growing understanding of how families and schools can best support adolescents’ sexual health and overall wellbeing.
These are some of the grant-funded projects that advance our family, sexuality, and communication research initiative:
2013 - 2016
Project Director: Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D.
Funded by: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Child Health and Human Development
Project Overview:
This investigation longitudinally explored continuity and change in how teens and their families talked about sex, dating, and relationships throughout teens' transition to high school. This study extended parent-teen dyadic studies of family sexual communication to encompass broader family networks, like extended family members. It also investigated the potential of teen-family sexuality communication to protect teens against the unhealthy consequences of early sexual initiation. The role of teen and adult family member gender was also considered in shaping sexual communication and its influence on teen sexual behavior.
Findings:
In an analysis of why teens talk with extended family about dating, sex, and relationships, this study identified three themes: (1) teens felt a good connection with an extended family member, like an older sibling, (2) teens felt they could learn from an extended family member's knowledge or experiences, and (3) teens didn't want to talk with a parent.
In looking at extended family communication, this study found that for sexually active teens, talk about protection methods was associated with fewer sexual partners and talk about risks of sex was associated with more sexual partners regardless of teen gender and the generation of the extended family with whom teens talk. Results suggest that talking with extended family about sex may influence teens' sexual behavior independent of communication between teens and their parents. However, the direction of the effect depends on the content of the conversations. These findings suggest the need to explore whether and how extended family could be included in health prevention and intervention programs because programs which include family largely focus on parents.
Source: https://www.wcwonline.org/Active-Projects/communication-about-sex-in-the-nuclear-family-and-beyond-implications-for-health-interventions