Child, Youth, and Family Studies, Department of
Date of this Version
May 2003
Abstract
This study used a cross-sectional, multi-site survey design to examine Chinese parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the area of sexuality education for adolescents. Three cities in China were selected for the survey, and the final sample contained 841 parents with children ranged from 11 to 19 years. The majority of Chinese parents were found to have reasonably accurate knowledge about sexuality and positive attitudes toward sexuality and sexuality education. However, most Chinese parents reported that they never talked with their children about sexuality. Parental education was strongly related to both knowledge and attitudes. Gender of parent was a significant predictor of parental practices, with mothers talking more with children about sexuality than did fathers. Both parental knowledge and parental attitudes were found to be significant predictors of education practices. Parents who were more knowledgeable and who had more positive attitudes talked more with their children about sexuality. Implications for practice are discussed.
Comments
Versions of this paper were presented at the annual conferences of the National Council on Family Relations, Houston, 2002, American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Dallas, 2002, the Bridge for Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Sexuality, St. Louis, 2002, the Building Family Strengths International Symposium, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2001, and the Nebraska Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, McCook, 2001.
Based on a Masters thesis by Wenli Liu, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, 2000, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0801.
Copyright © 2003 Wenli Liu and Carolyn Edwards.