Parental sexual socialization and contraceptive use in young Black women and adolescent girls
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Family Science, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742 USA
- 2Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
- 3Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA USA
- 4UCLA Bixby Center to Advance Sexual and Reproductive Health Equity, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA USA
Abstract
Contraceptive use is particularly low among young Black women and adolescent girls in the United States. Sociocultural factors such as parent-child communication about sex (i.e., parental sexual socialization) may be relevant to contraceptive use in young Black women and girls. However, no research has identified patterns in the content of sexual socialization messages received by young Black women and adolescent girls in the U.S., nor examined the associations between sexual socialization patterns and contraceptive use in this population. Thus, we performed a latent class analysis using data from the 2013–2019 National Survey of Family Growth from Black women and girls aged 15–24 (Nunweighted = 794) to identify sexual socialization patterns. We identified four patterns of parental sexual socialization: (1) Comprehensive; (2) Limited; (3) Abstinence-focused; (4) Contraception-focused. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses were then performed to investigate the associations between these socialization patterns and contraceptive practices at the first and most recent sexual intercourse. Compared to respondents in the Contraception-focused class, those in the Limited and Abstinence-focused classes were less likely to engage in preventive contraceptive behaviors at the first intercourse. However, there were few differences between the patterns in contraceptive behaviors at the most recent intercourse. These results underscore differences in sexual socialization experiences of young Black women and adolescent girls. The findings also have important implications for identifying those who may be at risk of unintended pregnancies, and for informing Black parents about what messages are most beneficial to promote contraceptive use in Black girls.
Related
- Three decades of sexual and reproductive health literacy and information behaviour research on adolescent and young adult males: a scoping review
- Prevalence and associated factors of selected adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes and gender-based violence among adolescent girls and young women in Ethiopia: an umbrella review
- Peer-led sexual and reproductive health education and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls and young women in rural Uganda: A quasi-experimental pre-post study
- Spatial distribution and ecological correlates of sexual, physical and emotional violence against adolescent girls and young women in Namibia: a geospatial analysis of a national cross-sectional survey.
- Risky sexual behaviors and associated factors among adolescent girls and young women in the context of HIV prevention pre-exposure prophylaxis in Tanzania: Analysis of the Tanzania HIV Impact Survey 2022–2023
BibTeX
@article{brown2026parental,
title = {{Parental sexual socialization and contraceptive use in young Black women and adolescent girls}},
author = {Joni A. Brown and Julia R. Steinberg and Patrick A. Wilson and Christine Dunkel Schetter and Jessica D. Gipson},
journal = {Journal of Behavioral Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1007/s10865-026-00701-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-026-00701-2},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Parental sexual socialization and contraceptive use in young Black women and adolescent girls
AU - Joni A. Brown
AU - Julia R. Steinberg
AU - Patrick A. Wilson
AU - Christine Dunkel Schetter
AU - Jessica D. Gipson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/20
JO - Journal of Behavioral Medicine
DO - 10.1007/s10865-026-00701-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-026-00701-2
AB - Contraceptive use is particularly low among young Black women and adolescent girls in the United States. Sociocultural factors such as parent-child communication about sex (i.e., parental sexual socialization) may be relevant to contraceptive use in young Black women and girls. However, no research has identified patterns in the content of sexual socialization messages received by young Black women and adolescent girls in the U.S., nor examined the associations between sexual socialization patterns and contraceptive use in this population. Thus, we performed a latent class analysis using data from the 2013–2019 National Survey of Family Growth from Black women and girls aged 15–24 (Nunweighted = 794) to identify sexual socialization patterns. We identified four patterns of parental sexual socialization: (1) Comprehensive; (2) Limited; (3) Abstinence-focused; (4) Contraception-focused. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses were then performed to investigate the associations between these socialization patterns and contraceptive practices at the first and most recent sexual intercourse. Compared to respondents in the Contraception-focused class, those in the Limited and Abstinence-focused classes were less likely to engage in preventive contraceptive behaviors at the first intercourse. However, there were few differences between the patterns in contraceptive behaviors at the most recent intercourse. These results underscore differences in sexual socialization experiences of young Black women and adolescent girls. The findings also have important implications for identifying those who may be at risk of unintended pregnancies, and for informing Black parents about what messages are most beneficial to promote contraceptive use in Black girls.
SN - 0160-7715
SN - 1573-3521
ER -