Attitudes of parents in the role of a father in Turkey toward child sex education and their sexual communication with their children

Background and purpose: The study aimed to evaluate the attitudes of parents in the role of a father in Turkey toward child sex education and their sexual communication with their children. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with the fathers of children in the pediatric outpatient clinic at a state hospital between December 30, 2021, and April 15, 2022. The study was reported based on STROBE. The datawere collected from297 fathers using the Descriptive Information Form, the Attitudes Scale Toward Sex education (ASTSE), and the Sexual Communication Scale for Parents(SCSP). Results: Sample statistics demonstrate that 67.7% of the participants did not receive sex education in their childhood, and 57.4% stated that their children received sex education only from their mothers. Higher attitudes toward sexual education were found in the fathers with a university or higher education degree (.2 = 15.396; p < 0.01), and those giving sex education to their children (.2= 18.388;p < 0.001). Higher total scoreswere obtained on the sexual communication scale by fathers with university and higher education degrees (.2= 12.898; p < 0.01) and those who received sex education in their childhood (t= 2.330;p= 0.021). There is a highly significant positive correlation between themean scores of the role of a parent subscale of the ASTSE and themean total score of the SCSP (r = 0.81;p < 0.001). Conclusions: There is a positive correlation between fathers' parental role attitudes toward sex education and their sexual communication with their children. Practice implications: Supporting fathers' sexual communication with their children can positively affect fathers' attitudes and communication toward sex education. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.