A scale for the comparison of the sexual attitudes of adolescents and their parents

We developed a 14-item Attitudes Toward Sexuality Scale (ATSS) to compare the sexual attitudes of early, middle, and late adolescents and their parents. One hundred forty-one adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 and their parents completed a questionnaire consisting of the ATSS and demographic information. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the adolescents was .75, and for the parents it was .84. A principal components analysis revealed four major dimensions of the scale: a large General factor, Legality/Morality, Alternative Modes of Sexual Expression, and Individual Rights. The correlation pattern between the ATSS and subscales of the Sex Knowledge and Attitudes Test, as well as with certain demographic variables, supports the construct validity of the ATSS. This is, therefore, a scale which may be used for research in which the sexual attitudes of adults and adolescents of various ages are to be measured and compared.     

Multidimensionality of sexual attitudes

In four studies, we used the Sexual Attitudes Scale, a new multidimensional instrument, and (a) concluded final construction of the scale, (b) assessed the relationships between the scale and three criterion measures, and (c) provided initial construct validation of the instrument through demonstrated relationships with several relevant psychosocial variables and personality/attitude measures. The instrument was initially administered to a large sample (N = 807); the scores were factor analyzed, and scales were defined. A refined version was cross validated on another large sample (N = 567), with results that mostly replicated earlier results. The Sexual Attitudes Scale was then given to another sample (N = 105), along with the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Reiss Male and Female Premarital Permissiveness Scales, and the sex‐guilt subscale of the Revised Mosher Guilt Inventory. Results showed the Sexual Attitudes Scale to have moderate and conceptually consistent correlations with these other scales. Additional results from three studies revealed significant relationships between subjects' sexual attitudes and relevant demographic/psychosocial variables (e.g., gender, love experience) and demonstrated substantial links between the Sexual Attitudes Scale and measures of related concepts such as sensation seeking and love attitudes. The Sexual Attitudes Scale is a psychometrically sound new scale assessing Sexual Permissiveness, Sexual Practices, Communion, and Instrumentality.     

Chinese Parents’ Perspectives on Adolescent Sexuality Education

ABSTRACT

There is growing interest in China to understand how young people learn about sexuality, but there are few existing studies about the role of parents as sex educators of their children. This study surveyed 694 Chinese parents of adolescents in three cities about their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding sexuality education for their children. The majority supported sexuality education, yet few parents had provided it. High-income parents had more favorable sexual attitudes and, in turn, were more likely to educate children about sexuality. The findings provide insight into parents’ role in adolescents’ sexual behavior and can be useful to sexuality education professionals.     

Socialization factors in contraceptive attitudes: Roles of affective responses,parental attitudes,and sexual experience

Attitudes about using specific contraceptives were hypothesized to be based mainly on heterosexual or autoerotic feelings. Affective responses to two stimulus themes were correlated with attitudes toward the use of contraceptives. The prediction was confirmed, moderated by levels of sexual experience and parental attitudes reported by the college student participants. Attitudes toward the use of contraceptives which involve genital manipulation, such as the diaphragm or condom, were positively correlated with feelings about masturbation themes presented in slides. Similarly, a positive relationship was found between attitudes about non‐genitally manipulative contraceptives, such as the pill, and heterosexual themes. Having little sexual experience or reporting negative parental attitudes toward sex increased the observed frequency of several of these predicted correlations. Explanations for these results included a reinforcement interpretation of the socialization experiences determining the development of attitudes toward using the various methods of birth control.     

Heterosexually Married Men Who Have Sex With Men: Marital Separation and Psychological Adjustment

In order to provide an empirical base for generation of theory and the design of intervention and enrichment programs, relationships between youths' perceptions of parental values/behavior and their own sexual attitudes were tested, as well as the interactive effects of a formal course in sex education. Perceptions of parental sexual liberality, concern about nudity in the home during childhood, caring for each other, and sex‐role stereotyping were correlated to adolescents' sexual liberalism, as measured by the Athanasiou and Shaver scale (1969, 1970), and other categorical items which elicited views of homosexuality, access to abortion and sex manuals, sex‐love linkage, premarital sexual relationships, and persons from whom advice about sexual problems would be sought. Sixty males and 75 females, ranging in age from 11 to 19 years, participated. Parental liberality correlated with offspring liberalism and other attitudes. Interactive effects of sex education were found: Sexually educated youths who perceived their parents as moderate reported greater sexual liberalism than those without sex education. No difference related to sex education was found among youths who perceived their parents as conservative or liberal. Lack of parental concern about nudity related to greater adolescent liberalism. Few differences attributable to gender and age were found. The discussion cautions against causal interpretation of correlations and presents avenues for future research.     

Growing Up in a Diverse Society: Adolescents’ Interest in Parental Religious Socialization Messages

Because Western societies are becoming increasingly religiously diverse, the sociocultural context in which young adolescents currently grow up differs from that of their parents. This raises the question to what extent adolescents are interested in communicating with their parents about religion. In a cross-sectional study of 498 Belgian adolescents ages 12–18-years (mean age = 14.94, SD = 1.34), we examined how adolescent interest in communicating with parents about religion was related to the link between parental religious socialization messages and adolescent religious out-group attitudes. Testing two models, we aimed to understand whether (a) adolescent interest in communicating with parents about religion mediated the link between parental religious socialization and adolescent religious out-group attitudes or (b) parental religious socialization mediated the link between adolescent interest in communicating with parents about religion and adolescent religious out-group attitudes. Results revealed a dynamic interplay between study variables, and highlighted the importance of considering adolescent interest in communicating with parents about religion.     

Self‐actualization and sexual permissiveness,satisfaction, prudishness,and drive among female undergraduates

The relationship between self‐actualization and aspects of female sexuality was examined. Ninety‐five white, single female undergraduates from a regional southeastern state university volunteered as subjects. Three questionnaires were administered: the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), Eysenck's Inventory of Attitudes to Sex, and a two‐item religiosity measure. The data were analyzed via correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis which employed religiosity, age, major, grade, residence (on/off campus), and the order of test presentation as covariates. The results indicated that, when the effects of the covariates were controlled, there was a significant relationship between self‐actualization and sexual permissiveness, sexual satisfaction and prudishness. Although self‐actualization and sexual libido were significantly correlated, self‐actualization did not account for a significant portion of the variance in sexual libido after the effects of the covariates were controlled. Implications for future research include using different populations to investigate the relationship between self‐actualization and sexual attitudes and behaviors, using different measures of self‐actualization to investigate its relationship to sexual attitudes and behaviors, and examining the relationship between self‐actualization and other aspects of sexuality.     

Parenting Practices and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

The effects of parental attitudes, practices, and television mediation on adolescent sexual behaviors were investigated in a study of adolescent sexuality and media (N = 887). Confirmatory factor analyses supported an eight‐factor parenting model with television mediation factors as constructs distinct from general parenting practices. Logistic regressions indicated that adolescents reporting greater parental disapproval and limits on viewing at Wave 1 were less likely to initiate oral sex between Waves 1 and 2. Adolescents who reported more sexual communication with parents were more likely to initiate oral sex. Results for vaginal intercourse were similar to those for oral sex. Coviewing was a significant negative predictor of initiation of sexual behavior. Parental attitudes and television mediation can delay potentially risky adolescent sexual behaviors.     

Hyperfemininity: Measurement and initial validation of the construct

Asocial control model of rape proposes that there are societal mechanisms including rape in place to maintain the power imbalance between males and females. One of the forces that perpetuates the problem of rape is traditional gender‐role socialization. A gender‐role model of rape characterizes males as aggressive initiators of sexual activity and women as passive participants. Research has established a link between extreme adherence to a male gender role and experience with sexual aggression; it has been proposed that females learn attitudes about sexuality that might negatively influence their sexual experiences as well, but there is little research to support such a proposal. In the present study, “hyperfeminine” women were hypothesized to indicate particular traditional attitudes and beliefs regarding the rights and roles of women that would have implications for male‐female relationships. The development of a scale to measure hyperfemininity is reported, and several studies are presented that provide initial evidence that the Hyperfemininity scale is both valid and reliable. Hyperfemininity was found to be associated with attitudes supportive of a traditional feminine gender role; these attitudes, in turn, were found to be related to adversarial sexual attitudes and traditional feminine achievement ideals. The possible origins of hyperfeminine attitudes and their role in helping to institutionalize the problem of rape are discussed.     

The Relationship between a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Gender Role Attitudes

This study explored the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and gender role attitudes. Female university students rated themselves and their parents on gender role attitudes and history of childhood sexual abuse. Traditional participant gender role attitude and social isolation were associated with reporting being sexually abused as a child and may thus be risk factors for, or the result of a history of, CSA in women. Traditional participant gender role attitude and low income were associated with victim distress and therefore may be detrimental to coping with a history of childhood sexual abuse. Although replication of these results is needed, discovery of attitudinal and demographic variables associated with CSA may be important in the prevention and treatment of CSA.     

Sexual Communication Between Early Adolescents and Their Dating Partners,Parents, and Best Friends

This study assessed early adolescents’ sexual communication with dating partners, parents, and best friends about six sexual health topics: condoms, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), pregnancy, and abstinence/waiting. Using a school-based sample of 603 youth (ages 12 to 15; 57% female; 46% Caucasian), we examined communication differences across demographic and developmental factors, tested whether communication with parents and best friends was associated with greater communication with partners, and examined associations between communication and condom use. More than half of participants had not discussed any sexual topics with their dating partners (54%), and many had not communicated with parents (29%) or best friends (25%). On average, communication was more frequent among adolescents who were female, African American, older, and sexually active, despite some variation in subgroups across partner, parent, and friend communication. Importantly, communication with parents and friends—and the interaction between parent and friend communication—was associated with increased communication with dating partners. Further, among sexually active youth, increased sexual communication with partners was associated with more frequent condom use. Results highlight the importance of understanding the broader family and peer context surrounding adolescent sexual decision making and suggest a possible need to tailor sexual communication interventions.     

Profiles of the parents of adolescent CSA perpetrators attending a voluntary outpatient treatment programme in Ireland

A group of 22 parents of adolescent sexual offenders (PASO) was compared with a group of 19 normal controls (NC) and 10 clinical controls (CC) on demographic, developmental, personal adjustment and family environment variables. The assessment protocol included the General Health Questionnaire‐12, the Culture‐Free Self‐Esteem Inventory, the Child Behaviour Checklist, the Family Assessment Device, the Parent Satisfaction Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Compared with clinical and normal controls, more parents in the PASO group reported that they had been arrested or charged for a criminal offence; had personally experienced child abuse; and more of their adolescents had experienced child abuse, with emotional abuse being the most common form of abuse for both parents and adolescents. Compared with clinical and normal controls, more adolescents of parents in the PASO group had witnessed parental drug or alcohol abuse and had been placed in care outside their home. While parents in the PASO group did not differ from clinical or normal controls in terms of personal adjustment, their adolescents had significantly more internalizing behaviour problems than normal controls, whereas adolescents of parents in the clinical control group had significantly more externalizing behaviour problems than normal controls. Compared with normal controls, parents in both the PASO and clinical control groups reported more difficulties with general family functioning, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement and behaviour control and lower levels of parental satisfaction. However, the groups did not differ significantly in their levels of perceived social support. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Premarital sexual experience: A longitudinal study∗

The relative importance of women's sex‐role orientation and their observation of maternal sexual affection in predicting college women's attitudes toward 18 sexual behaviors were examined in this investigation. A sample of 122 single female college students from intact families was administered three questionnaires: the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Mother's Expression of Affection Scale, and the Sexual Attitude Questionnaire. Stepwise regression analysis was used to determine the relative contribution of sex‐role orientation and maternal expression of affection to attitudes toward each of the sexual behaviors. Findings revealed that sex‐role orientation was a significant predictor of attitudes toward 14 of the 18 specific items. More egalitarian views of women were associated with more positive attitudes toward engaging in a variety of sexual behaviors and taking steps to ensure one's own contraceptive security. Mother's expression of sexual affection toward her spouse was a significant predictor of only two behavioral items. Greater exposure to an affectionate mother was associated with more positive attitudes toward speaking affectionately to men and behaving assertively in a sexual relationship. Implications of the findings for family practitioners are discussed.     

Social Work Students' Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Their Knowledge and Attitudes toward Homosexual Parenting as an Alternative Family Unit: An Australian Study

Attitudes have become increasingly more accepting toward homosexuality, yet negative attitudes toward homosexual parents continue. There appears to be no research specifically examining Australian social work students' attitudes towards homosexuality and homosexual parenting. This article reports on a study of final year social work students in the undergraduate social work programme at one university in the State of Victoria. This study investigated student attitudes to homosexuality, and their knowledge and attitudes toward homosexual parenting as an alternative family unit via the administration of a questionnaire containing a number of scales and questions, some in response to a case vignette involving couples of different sexual orientations (lesbian, gay and heterosexual). It was found that most of the students had liberal attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexual parenting, and had high levels of knowledge about homosexual parenting. Students were generally favourable towards all three couples in the vignettes, but rated lesbian parents followed by gay parents most highly. It was found that the inclusion of the topic of homosexuality within the social work curriculum was extremely minimal. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research. The implications of the findings for curriculum development and directions for future research are also discussed.     

The brief sexual attitudes scale

The measurement of sexual attitudes is important, and ease of scale usability is one key aspect of measurement. This paper details three studies conducted to develop a briefer and thus more efficient version of the multidimensional Sexual Attitudes Scale (43 items). The first two studies (I and II) employed existing data sets to develop a 23-item version of the Sexual Attitudes Scale, using exploratory factor analysis in Study I and confirmatory factor analysis in Study II. The same four subscales of Permissiveness, Birth Control (formerly called Sexual Practices), Communion, and Instrumentality were retained in the 23-item measure, called the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale. Study III was a prospective data collection using only the 23 items composing the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale. The four subscales were hypothesized to correlate with a number of relationship measures in predictable ways. Results indicated that the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale is a reliable and valid measure of the four sexual attitudes, and has strong psychometric properties. It should be effective and efficient for both research and clinical uses.     

The Development of Four Types of Adolescent Dating Abuse and Selected Demographic Correlates

This study determined the shape of trajectories from ages 13 to 19 of 4 types of dating abuse perpetration and examined whether the demographic characteristics of sex, minority status, socioeconomic status, and family structure systematically explained variation in the trajectories. The data are from 5 waves of data collected from 973 adolescents participating in the control group of a randomized trial. The mean trajectory for psychological dating abuse was positive linear, but the mean trajectories were curvilinear for moderate physical, severe physical, and sexual dating abuse. At all ages, boys reported more severe physical and sexual dating abuse than girls, minorities reported more moderate and severe physical dating abuse than Whites, adolescents in single‐parent households reported more psychological and severe physical dating abuse than those in 2‐parent‐households, and parental education was negatively associated with psychological and moderate physical dating abuse perpetration. The findings have implications for future research and for practice.     

The Influence of Family Environment Factors on Self-Acceptance and Emotional Adjustment Among Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents

Abstract

The quality of an adolescent's family environment has been shown to contribute to their self-acceptance and emotional adjustment. Studies suggest that sexual minority adolescents face unique challenges while negotiating family relationships but few studies have specifically examined the relationships between these family environments and the adolescent's psychological adjustment. This study examined general aspects of family functioning (family cohesion, family expressiveness, family conflict, parental support) and parental attitudes toward homosexuality as predictors of self-acceptance of sexual orientation identity and emotional adjustment among 102 gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents ages 15 to 19 years. Family variables did not predict a significant amount of variance in self-acceptance of sexual orientation identity. However, measures of general family functioning and parental attitudes toward homosexuality accounted for significant amounts of variance in emotional adjustment.     

Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sexuality in Chinese Families

Given that young people in China are faced with increased sex-related risks, it is important to understand from a communication perspective, the role of parents as a prominent sexual socialization agent for Chinese adolescents. Semistructured, one-to-one interviews were conducted with Chinese adolescents (N = 37) about their parents’ communication about sex and sexuality. Using a constant comparative method, four categories were identified with respect to Chinese parents’ direct/explicit communication about sexuality and in addition, four categories of indirect/implication communication (RQ1). Further, four categories regarding Chinese adolescents’ attitudes towards such communication were apparent (RQ2). Overall, Chinese parents attempted to transmit values and expectations about dating and sexual activities indirectly, implicitly, and/or nonverbally. Adolescents in the present study also expressed tendencies to avoid sex-related communication with parents. Some even explicitly stated that avoiding such communication was beneficial. The findings’ implications for the role of culture in parent-adolescent communication about sexuality and communication openness are discussed.     

Attitudes of College Females Toward Marital Exclusivity Over a Nine-Year Period

Marital exclusivity refers to the degree to which activities with individuals other than the spouse are excluded from the marital relationship. Typically, this construct has been studied in the form of extramarital sexual relationships. Other types of extramarital relationships (e.g., work relationships, friendships), however, are more prevalent and have important implications for marital and personal satisfaction as well. The present study examined attitudes toward extramarital sexual relationships and extramarital nonsexual relations among college women over a nine year period. Results indicated little change in attitudes toward extramarital sexual or nonsexual relationships between 1980 and 1988 at either the item or scale level. The Attitudes Toward Marital Exclusivity Scale exhibited sound measurement properties (internal consistency, item-total score correlations) for all years of the study. Moreover, the scale met a variety of criteria for Guttman scaling. Finally, the importance of further investigation in the area of marital exclusivity is briefly discussed.     

Spanish Adolescents’ Attitudes toward Transpeople: Proposal and Validation of a Short Form of the Genderism and Transphobia Scale

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a short form of the Genderism and Transphobia Scale and assess adolescents’ attitudes toward transpeople. A total of 800 Spanish adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years (50.70% girls, 49.30% boys) completed the Spanish version of the scale and other related questionnaires. The short form of the scale is composed of 12 items clustered into two factors (Transphobia/Genderism and Gender Bashing) that explain 54.22% of the variance. All the items showed good discriminating power, and the present scale demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. In the study, boys exhibited significantly more negative attitudes toward transpeople than girls did, both in the affective/cognitive dimension (Transphobia/Genderism) and in the behavioral dimension (Gender Bashing). Moreover, adolescents showed significantly more negative attitudes toward gender-nonconforming men than toward gender-nonconforming women. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance to the maintenance of discriminatory attitudes toward sexual diversity.