TELL ME MORE: PARENT-CHILD SEXUAL TALK AND YOUNG ADULT SEXUAL COMMUNICATION SATISFACTION WITH ROMANTIC PARTNERS

Abstract

Young adults (18-30) tend to show insufficient levels of communication about sex with their romantic partners, despite the many benefits of sexual communication to relationships for this age group. Often, learned sexual shame and guilt play a role in inhibiting sexual communication with partners. Early messages about sex from parents that stem from narrow cultural boundaries of communication may play a role in fostering sexual shame and guilt from a young age, potentially influencing sexual communication patterns with partners later on. This study seeks to identify whether a significant relationship exists between participants' past parent-child sexual communication growing up and sexual communication satisfaction, relational satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction with current partners. ANOVA analyses revealed greater reported sex guilt among males and highly religious participants. Correlation and regression analyses yielded significant, positive relationships between former parent-child communication quality and current young adult sexual satisfaction with partner. A surprising result was a positive relationship between parent-child communication quality and sex guilt which warrants further research. Clinical implications and research directions are discussed for increasing open parent-child sex communication.