Associations Between the Caregiver Relationships and Sexual Risk Behavior of Female Adolescents in An Urban Setting

Background: Caregiver relationships with adolescents  influence their sexual behaviors, but nuances of such influences are understudied.

Objectives: To determine associations between quality of adolescent-caregiver relationships and sexual risk behaviors.

Methods: We asked 288 urban adolescent females (98.2% African American) about their sexual behaviors, substance use, and relationships with their primary caregivers.

Results: Most participants (86%) felt their caregivers cared about them "very much."  Participants reporting their caregivers cared about them very much were more likely to have discussed a personal problem with their caregiver and less likely to have had a serious argument, c² = 8.4, p < .01, and 6.0, p < .05.  They were more likely to report their caregiver knew what was going on in their lives, t = 4.2, p < .001, but no more likely to report caregiver approval of sex, t = 1.1, p > .25.  Participants reporting caregivers cared about them very much did not differ from others with respect to the number of recent partners, amount of vaginal or oral sex, marijuana or alcohol use, all p > .10.  However, they were less likely to have had sex with someone they would not have if they had not been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, c² = 4.0, p < .05.  This was true whether the participants were responding about sex with or without condoms, c² = 4.0 and 4.3, respectively, both p < .05, and true even though the caregiver's approval of sex was not associated with any of those variables.  

Conclusions: Adolescent perceptions of caregiver relationships are associated with their sexual risk in significant but subtle ways.

Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research: Exploring beyond initial responses to basic questions about sex and drug use can yield important information for programs and researchers that otherwise might be missed.