Repeatedly, parents have reported more frequent and higher quality sex communication with adolescent children than adolescents report taking place. The current study analyzes the discrepancy in parent-child report of sex communication with three main focuses: the magnitude of the discrepancy, whether parent or adolescent perception is more associated with adolescent sexual esteem, and whether the discrepancy is associated with adolescent sexual esteem. Using data from the Healthy Sexuality Project, we analyze a random sample of 620 families using a hierarchical linear regression to measure whether a discrepancy in parent-adolescent reports of the frequency and quality of sex communication has influence on adolescent sexual-esteem.

In this study, I investigated how mindfulness and sexual mindfulness (i.e. awareness and non-judgment) related to sexual consent beliefs among adolescents, and how these relationships were influenced by mothers' and fathers' communication about sex. My approach was grounded in Self-Determination Theory, which posits that healthy sexuality is best achieved when self-determined sexual relationships meet the fundamental human needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Previous research has suggested a positive link between mindfulness and sexual mindfulness and sexual consent beliefs among teenagers. On one hand, effective open communication between parents and children, especially regarding sensitive topics such as sexuality, can enhance the parent-child relationship and foster mindfulness in adolescents. On the other hand, negative or controlling communication may not influence an environment for mindfulness to flourish. Overall, mothers' and fathers' ways of communicating about sex have been found to shape adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors. To test my hypotheses, I used two cross-sectional moderation models with data from the Healthy Sexuality Project Wave 2. My sample included 128 sexually active adolescents. My results indicated that adolescents' sexual mindful awareness positively related to their sexual consent beliefs, while mothers' open communication enhanced the relationship between trait mindfulness and consent beliefs.