Sexual Communication: A Qualitative Study of Parents and Adolescent Girls Discussion about Sex

Abstract

Poor parent–child communication on sexual issues show deficiency in adolescent’s sexual information seeking behaviour. Through the family communication pattern and attachment theory, the study adopted the qualitative research method with the use of focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview to examine communication between parents and adolescent girls. Twenty-four students were drawn from four secondary schools within Ibadan North LGA as sample for the FGD, while four parents each were selected from the schools for the in-depth interview through a simple random and purposive sampling. Female adolescents (students) are scared of sharing sexual problems with parents; hence, they seek information from informal sources such as Internet, friends and movies which has led them to follow a sexual risk lifestyle. Majority of parents are confronted with challenges when discussing sexual issues with their female children. And most mothers educate their girl child than fathers on sexual issues; hence, majority of female students confide more in their mothers than their fathers. Adolescent girls are at risk of receiving wrong information on sexual issues; thus, parents should promote an atmosphere of open communication with their adolescent girls about sexual-health-related issues to avoid any sexual problems in the future.