Despite a number of public health initiatives targeting the sexual health of teenagers, teen pregnancy and STD rates in the U.S. remain exceptionally high. Although schools and peers are common sources of information for teens, research suggests that parents serve as one of the primary sources of sexual health information for adolescents. Many studies have focused on the content of parent-adolescent communication about sex, but more needs to be known about how such communication varies by adolescent gender and across different kinds of families. In this study, regression analysis assessed mother and adolescent In-Home interview data from Wave I of the Adolescent Health dataset (n = 20,745). Findings indicate that family structure and maternal education are somewhat predictive of the communication outcomes, yet adolescent gender remains the most significant factor in communication between mothers and adolescents. In short, mothers communicate more about sexual health with girls than boys, and this gender gap does not vary considerably across family structures or socioeconomic statuses based on maternal education. / text

Background and aims: Existing literature indicates how the organisation and comprehension of early life is often discourse-based due to the attribution of meaning to people, objects and contexts through verbal communication. In this way our perceptions of the world and relationships are highly contextualised and contingent. The complexity of human experience suggests a dilemma for studies that seek to explain it through quantification, distinction and difference. This is even more poignant for research on adolescent counselling which addresses contexts in which there are numerous levels of personal change. For this reason it was the aim of this research to explore how discourses construct adult-adolescent communication in therapy to gain a deeper knowledge of interactive processes in action. The focus was on personal, social and therapeutic aspects of communication as well as how the therapeutic relationship may be influenced by social understandings of adolescence and adulthood. Methodology and analysis: As the primary means of communication, language is the predominant medium through which meanings and understandings are negotiated and shared. A discourse analysis was thus selected to explore how discourses function and perform in therapy. The research transcript comprised a case study of seven, sixty-minute counselling sessions between a 49-year old female trainee counselling psychologist and a 17-year old female adolescent client. The analysis identified five main interpretative repertoires: ‘Adolescence’; ‘Making sense of adults’, ‘Coping with Parents’; ‘Adult-adolescent communication during therapy’ and ‘Professional communication during therapy’. These repertoires situate therapy in the personal and social contexts of experience that give it relevance, purpose and meaning. They also focus on how communication manifests therapeutically with regard to interactions, interventions and thus the relationship itself. Discussion and conclusion: This research offers renewed awareness of what it means to experience adolescence. The discourses construct many experiences of difference and conflict as well as similarity and togetherness in ways that are not specific to particular age groups or based on socially constructed understandings. The repertoires indicate that each person possesses a child, adolescent and adult throughout life and that the interchange between these positions is highly fluid and dynamic. Through its flexibility and responsiveness, pluralistic counselling psychology appears well adapted to adolescent clients due to its capacity to embrace, hold and support different levels of change (personal, adolescent and therapeutic). Through acceptance, empathy and trust the therapeutic relationship appears to create an experience of stability and consistency that many adolescents require to safely explore and communicate their personal difficulties.

Using quantitative and qualitative data analytic techniques, the present study explores the parent-adolescent relationship from a pilot study of 15 triads (overall N = 45). First, the statistical relationship between positive relational affect and electrical brain activity was assessed during parent-adolescent conflict communication (N = 30). Specifically, using electroencephalography (EEG) technology, electrical brain activity was recorded during family problem-solving discussions between a mother, father, and adolescent child. Observational coding was used to determine participant and triad positive affect ratios (PARs). Principles of positive-to-negative affect were incorporated into an affective neuroscience framework and used as the theoretical basis for the quantitative portion of this research. Findings suggest that in relation to positive affect, hemispheric lateralization occurs during parent-adolescent problem-solving discussions. Second, the behavioral-family systems model of parent-adolescent conflict (Robin & Foster, 1989) was used to theoretically undergird the qualitative portion of the study. Based on this theoretical model, a thematic content analysis was conducted using transcripts from the triadic problem-solving discussions (N = 45). Patterns of parent-adolescent communication were assessed, and a modified grounded theory approach was applied to emergent communication themes that differed from those presented in the theory. Similarities and differences in conflict communication behaviors and positive affect ratios were compared between families. Contextual descriptions of each family are offered.

The current study examined the protective effect of parenting-adolescent communication about sex on four risky sexual behaviors (age of onset of sex, number of sex partners, condom use, and STDs) among youth, framed by the Theory of Planned Behavior. It also tested for potential mediation effects between parent-adolescent communication and risky sex measures by sexual cues, date rape attitudes, and acceptance of dating violence in a sample of 2,245 college students from Japan, Slovenia, Spain, and the United States. Results provided evidence of a weak effect of parent-adolescent communication about sex on risky sexual behaviors across samples. A number of cultural influences were also found in the effects by mediators: sexual cues predicted risky sexual behaviors only in the Japanese sample; date rape attitudes was a predictor in the American and Slovenian samples; acceptance of dating violence predicted more risky sexual behaviors only in the American sample; and no significant effects were found in the Spanish sample. Several competing explanations were examined in the discussion to better understand the complex and dynamic interaction between parents and their adolescents as well as the role of culture. More studies are needed to better understand the associations between parent-adolescent communication about sex and risky sexual behaviors.

Teen dating violence (TDV) affects nearly one third of adolescents in the United States and is increasingly one of the largest public health concerns of health researchers and practitioners. Parent involvement, and specifically messages communicated to children about healthy and unhealthy relationships, has potential to be a vital element of TDV prevention and intervention. Researchers have demonstrated that parent-adolescent communication has significant effects on adolescent risky behavior, but the effect of parent-adolescent communication on TDV has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between mother-daughter communication quality, mothers' and daughters' beliefs about unhealthy relationships, and the dating violence experienced by adolescents. The sample was 58 adolescent daughters recruited from three rural Oregon high schools and their mothers. Self-report and observational data were collected from daughters and their mothers. It was hypothesized that (1) daughters' dating beliefs mediate the relationship between mothers' dating beliefs and daughters' experienced TDV, (2) mother-daughter communication quality mediates the relationship between mothers' dating beliefs and daughter's dating beliefs, and (3) mother-daughter communication quality mediates the relationship between mothers' dating beliefs and daughter's TDV. Structural equation modeling was used to test three path models where mother-daughter communication was represented by three different measures: daughters' report of having a quality conversation with their mother about dating in the past year, daughters' disagreement during observed mother-daughter communication, and daughters' disagreement during observed mother-daughter communication about dating. All three models were a good fit with the data, and significant associations were found between measures of mother-daughter communication, daughters' beliefs about dating, and daughters' experienced dating violence. Implications of this study include mother-daughter communication, perhaps a representation of a larger construct of mother-daughter relationship quality, as a point of intervention for adolescent girls' experiences of dating violence. Future research and clinical studies are required to further examine the relationships between parent-adolescent communication and TDV and the potential affect that parents may have on rates and experiences of TDV.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / This is a review of the body of literature about teenage sexuality, pregnancy, abortion, parent-adolescent communication, and parental involvement laws. The literature review focused on current United State's policies on teenage abortion and the effects of parental involvement laws and judicial bypass. A review of other nations' policies regarding teenage sexuality, pregnancy, and abortion and the outcomes of these policies is given and compared to the policies of the United States. Proponents' reasons for parental involvement laws are explored. Current research on the effects that parental involvement laws have on adolescents and their families, adolescents' abilities to make informed decisions about abortion, and characteristics of teenage girls who choose abortion is reviewed. The need for more research on teenage sexuality, parent-adolescent communication, and the effectiveness of parental involvement laws are identified. Implications for family life educators for the prevention of teenage pregnancy as well as interventions for family life educators in the event of adolescent pregnancy and abortion are provided. Implications for the need to review current parental involvement policies and the need to apply research to these policies are also recommended.

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xvi, 108 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Risky sexual behavior (RSB) places adolescents at risk for unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection, and research is needed to understand the predictors of adolescent RSB and targets for future intervention. The current study used the social contextual model of problem behavior development to examine family, peer, and individual influences on adolescents' sexual behavior and the relationship between RSB and other problem behaviors. Data were previously collected from 998 adolescents and their families. First, I examined the level of agreement between adolescents' and parents' perceptions of family relationships, parental monitoring, and adolescents' friendships and which perceptions were more strongly related to adolescent problem behavior. Pearson bivariate correlations between parent and adolescent perceptions were small. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that adolescent report was a better predictor of problem behavior than was parent report. Second, I assessed whether positive family relations, parental monitoring, family conflict, and parent-adolescent communication about sex in earlier adolescence were related to RSB in later adolescence. Structural equation modeling results suggested that the timing and frequency of parent-adolescent communication about sex and parent monitoring in earlier adolescence were related to RSB in later adolescence among the sample as a whole; results varied somewhat by gender. Third, I examined participants' membership in four risk behavior groups in late adolescence (low problem behavior, RSB only, substance use only, and RSB plus substance use), identified family, peer, and individual factors that differentiated teens in each group, and explored differences by sex and ethnicity. Females were more likely than males to report engaging in a combination of RSB and patterned substance use, and African Americans of both sexes were more likely than European Americans to report engaging in RSB in the absence of other behaviors. The variable that most reliably distinguished among risk groups for both males and females was friend drug use in late adolescence. Discussion considers reasons for these findings and highlights the roles of parent monitoring, parent-adolescent communication about sex, and gender and sociocultural factors in RSB prevention. / Committee in charge: Ellen McWhirter, Chairperson, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; Joe Stevens, Member, Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership; Elizabeth Stormshak, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; Anthony Biglan, Member, Not from U of O; Yvonne Braun, Outside Member, Sociology

Aging adolescents with rheumatic disease adopt responsibility for disease management from parents. Education on transition care is usually provided to patients by healthcare providers or parents. However, parent-focused transition resources are sparse with limited understanding of parental role and involvement during transition. After providing both parent and adolescent with the Transition Toolkit (parent-centered transition pamphlet, 5 domains of transition readiness roadmap, tip sheets) to support transition to adult care, we aimed to i) determine the change in patient’s transition readiness, using the Transition-Q, ii) explore the influence of parent-adolescent relationships on transition readiness, using the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS), and iii) obtain feedback on the Toolkit’s effectiveness, using a questionnaire. A prospective cohort study of patients 14-18 years was conducted at McMaster Children’s Hospital rheumatology transition clinic (includes pediatric rheumatologists, allied health, and the adult rheumatologist patients see post-transfer). Participant demographics, disease characteristics, transition readiness scores (Transition-Q, max 100), and parent-adolescent communication scores (PACS, max 100) were collected. After obtaining 2 Transition-Q scores from routine clinical care prior to enrollment, the Toolkit was shared with participants, and 2 follow-up Transition-Q scores were collected. Generalized estimating equation analyses were performed to determine the Toolkit’s impact on transition readiness and explore the parent-adolescent relationship and communication quality. Subgroup analyses were conducted by sex. A questionnaire was used to obtain Toolkit feedback. Of 21 patients, 19 completed one post-intervention Transition-Q and 16 completed two. Transition-Q scores increased over time and the rate of increase doubled after the Toolkit was shared with adolescents and parents (β=7.8, P<0.0 and β=15.5, P<0.0, respectively). Transition readiness did not seem to be influenced by the quality of communication between parent and child. Feedback from questionnaire responses found the Toolkit to be a helpful resource but standardization of transition programs and further investigation into parent-adolescent relationships, gender differences, and intervention sustainability is needed. / Thesis / Master of Science Rehabilitation Science (MSc) / Aging youths with rheumatic disease adopt the responsibility of disease management from parents. However, few resources to educate parents on transition and transition support exist. After giving patients and parents a Transition Toolkit, we aimed to i) determine change in patient’s transition readiness, ii) explore the influence of parent-adolescent relationships on transition readiness, and iii) obtain feedback on Toolkit use. Twenty-one study participants were recruited. Participant demographics, transition readiness scores, and parent-adolescent communication scores were collected. Transition-Q scores were collected before and after Toolkit provision. Analyses were performed to determine Toolkit impact and influence of parent-adolescent communication on transition readiness. Toolkit feedback from parents and adolescents were obtained through a questionnaire. Transition-Q scores increased at each follow-up, with the greatest increase after the Toolkit was shared. Parent-adolescent relationships did not influence transition readiness. Toolkit feedback suggests digital reminders to improve long-term retention of transition education. Future studies with greater patient diversity are recommended.