Parents' Plans to Discuss Sexuality with Their Young Children

Two hundred and fourteen (214) parents of young children (M age = 6.75 years) were surveyed about their plans for sexuality discussions with their children. Parents were asked to indicate when they would first discuss sex education with their children for 15 specific topics, how effective they perceived themselves to be at discussing each topic, and to describe their experiences receiving sex education from their own parents. Parents reported being educated mostly by their mothers and rated both of their parents as ineffective educators. Compared to a similar survey of parents conducted in 1982, parents in the current study intended to discuss sexual abuse at an earlier age but to delay discussing genital differences, birth, and reproduction. Compared to fathers, mothers intended to discuss sexuality at earlier ages and anticipated being more effective. Intended age of discussion differed between ethnic groups and between parents who described themselves as being religious versus not religious. Parents' intentions to discuss varied between sons and daughters for certain topics, and there were two topics that a considerable number of parents did not intend to discuss with their children (i.e., masturbation and nocturnal emissions). Suggestions for helping parents communicate more comfortably with their young children about sexuality topics are offered.