Effectiveness of parent participation in a technology-based adolescent sexuality education program: A randomized control trial

Abstract

© 2020, Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council. All rights reserved. Adolescent sexual risk behavior is considered a severe problem worldwide. A technology-based program is a practical tool for increasing parents’ sexual communication when it has been implemented to reduce sexual risk behaviors. This randomized control trial investigated the effects of parent participation in a technology-based adolescent sexuality education program on outcomes of parental sexual communication behavior and adolescent sexual abstinence intention. Eighty seventh-grade students and their parents in a secondary school in Bangkok, Thailand were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental (n= 41) or the comparison group (n=39). The experimental group received the Parent Participation in a Technology-Based Adolescent Sexuality Education Program, whereas in the comparison group only adolescent received a Technology-Based Adolescent Sexuality Education Program. Data were collected by Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior questionnaires and Parent Sexual Communication Behavior questionnaires. Generalized Estimating Equations were used to evaluate differences in parent and adolescent outcomes by intervention condition. Results showed that attitudes, norms, intention, and sexual communication behavior of parents in the experimental group were higher than the comparison group. Adolescents’ norms about sexual abstinence in the experimental group were higher than the comparison group. Additionally, adolescents’ reports of communicating with their parents about sexual health topics in the experimental group also were higher than the comparison group. Nurses should work with parents to improve parents’ sexual communication and also promote adolescents’ sexuality education.