Communication About Sexuality With Mothers and Stepmothers From the Perspective of Young Adult Daughters

Children can benefit when they are able to talk about sexuality with their parents. Studies indicate that adolescents prefer to discuss sexuality primarily with their same-sex peers and siblings. In families, teens prefer confiding in their mothers, then their fathers, and finally their stepparents of either gender. In an exploratory qualitative study, using a family systems and communication boundary perspective, 19 young women who self-identified as having a positive relationship with their mothers and nonresidential stepmothers were interviewed in depth. One area of strength identified was that the participants had open communication with their mothers. Although the volume of communication between mothers and daughters was greater than between stepmothers and stepdaughters, the content differed. Ten of the young women could confide in their stepmothers about their sexual experiences, whereas none of young women confided about sexuality with the mothers, with the exception of sexual health issues. This finding might indicate an unrecognized characteristic of positive stepmother–stepdaughter functioning. Practice implications are explored.