Mother–Daughter Sexual Communication: Differences by Maternal Sexual Victimization History

Women who experience childhood sexual victimization (CSV) report more problems with sexuality and with parenting during adulthood. Consequently, mothers with a CSV history may have particular difficulty with parent–child sexual communication. We examine this possibility in 184 diverse, low-income mother–adolescent daughter dyads. Mothers and daughters reported on the frequency, tone, and comfort of their sexual communication. Using dyadic approaches to analyses, we tested whether mothers’ and daughters’ reports, and their level of agreement, differ by maternal CSV history. In dyads with maternal CSV, daughters reported more frequent communication in which they felt less embarrassed, and they perceived their mothers as less embarrassed. Mothers with a CSV history were also more accurate in judging how their daughters feel during sexual communication. Although CSV is associated with many negative outcomes, our results suggest mothers with CSV may approach mother–daughter sexual communication in ways that could reduce sexual risk in offspring.

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Sexting and high sexual risk-taking behaviours among school youth in northern Ethiopia: estimating using prevalence ratio

BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health ◽

10.1136/bmjsrh-2018-200085 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 200-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kidan Abrha ◽

Alemayehu Worku ◽

Wondwossen Lerebo ◽

Yemane Berhane

Keyword(s):

Sexual Risk ◽

Low Income ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Sexual Communication ◽

Prevalence Ratio ◽

Sampling Procedure ◽

Sexual Risk Taking ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

School Youth

BackgroundIncreasing access to digital technology to young people in low-income settings has greatly influenced their porngraphy viewing and sexting, receiving and/or sending of sexual explicit materials via electronic devices. These change the sexual communication and behaviour of the young population. However, evidence to attest this change is not available in our setting. Thus, this study examined the relationship of high sexual risk-taking behaviour with sexting and pornography viewing among school youth in Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2015 by selecting school youth using a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a pre-validated anonymous facilitator-guided self-administered questionnaire. Poisson regression was run to calculate adjusted prevalence ratio with its 95% confidence intervals. All differences were considered as significant for p values ≤0.05.ResultsIn total, 5924 questionnaires were distributed, and 5306 (89.57%) school youth responded in full to questions related to outcome variables. Of these respondents, 1220 (22.99%; 95% CI 19.45 to 26.96) were involved in high sexual risk-taking behaviour; 1769 (33.37%; 95% CI 30.52 to 36.35) had experienced sexting and 2679 (50.26%; 95% CI 46.92 to 53.61) were viewing pornography. The proportion of high sexual risk-taking behaviour was three-fold among pornography viewers (adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) 95% CI 3.02 (2.52 to 3.62)) and two-fold among sexters (APR 95% CI 2.48 (1.88 to 3.27)) as compared with their counterparts.ConclusionsExposure to sexually explicit materials via communication technology is associated with increased high sexual risk-taking behaviour among school youth in northern Ethiopia. Considering these emerged predictors of sexual behaviours in our sexual education programmes, further research in this area is essential.

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Sexual Assault and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Lower-Income Rural Women: The Mediating Role of Self-Worth

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-15-00119 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 110-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Julia Dodd ◽

Heather Littleton

Keyword(s):

Sexual Assault ◽

Sexual Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Low Income ◽

Rural Women ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

Sexual Risk Behaviors ◽

Waiting Room ◽

Self Worth

Sexual victimization is associated with risky sexual behaviors. Limited research has examined mechanisms via which victimization affects risk behaviors, particularly following different types of sexual victimization. This study examined self-worth as a mediator of the relationship between sexual victimization history: contact childhood sexual abuse (CSA), completed rape in adolescence/adulthood (adolescent/adulthood sexual assault [ASA]), and combined CSA/ASA, and two sexual risk behaviors: past year partners and one-time encounters. Participants were diverse (57.9% African American), low-income women recruited from an OB-GYN waiting room (n = 646). Women with a history of sexual victimization, 29.8% (n = 186) reported lower self-worth, t(586) = 5.26, p < .001, and more partners, t(612) = 2.45, p < .01, than nonvictims. Self-worth was a significant mediator only among women with combined CSA/ASA histories in both risk behavior models.

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Sexual victimization history predicts academic performance in college women.

Journal of Counseling Psychology ◽

10.1037/cou0000146 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (6) ◽

pp. 685-692 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Majel R. Baker ◽

Patricia A. Frazier ◽

Christiaan Greer ◽

Jacob A. Paulsen ◽

Kelli Howard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

College Women ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

Victimization History

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Sexual Victimization History, Depression, and Task Physiology as Predictors of Sexual Revictimization

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260514535258 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 622-639 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Jonathan C. Waldron ◽

Laura C. Wilson ◽

Michelle A. Patriquin ◽

Angela Scarpa

Keyword(s):

Sexual Victimization ◽

Sexual Revictimization ◽

Victimization History ◽

And Task

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Women’s Response Performance in Sexually Risky Situations: Associations With Disinhibited Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211016354 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110163

Author(s):

Kristen N. Vitek ◽

Elizabeth A. Yeater

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Sexual Victimization ◽

Sexual Experience ◽

Alcohol Expectancies ◽

Research Area ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Social Situations ◽

Response Performance ◽

Alcohol Related Problems ◽

Victimization History

This study evaluated the effects of sexual victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies on the effectiveness of women’s response performance in hypothetical social situations depicting risk for sexual victimization. Two hundred and forty-five undergraduate women first listened to audiotaped descriptions of the hypothetical social situations and imagined that they were the woman depicted in each scenario. They then were given a response to each situation deemed in prior work by experts in the sexual victimization research area to be effective at reducing risk for sexual victimization and asked to provide each response verbally while being videotaped. Participants then completed measures assessing prior victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies. Experts in the sexual violence research area rated participants’ responses with respect to how effective each response was in decreasing their risk for having an unwanted sexual experience, defined as an experience in which the woman may be verbally or physically coerced into having a sexual contact of any kind with a man. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies were associated positively with women’s response performance, indicating that women who endorsed greater disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies provided more effective responses to risky hypothetical situations. Findings suggest possible interventions aimed at reducing women’s risk of sexual victimization.

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