'It is our duty:' Understanding Parents' Perspectives on Reproductive and Sexual Health Education

"Establishing healthy habits and lifestyles early is very important": parental views of brain health literacy on dementia prevention in preschool and primary school children

Introduction

Parents have the potential to drive healthy lifestyle behaviors through educational initiatives. This study aims to understand the prevalent thoughts and perceptions parents have toward brain health educational programs for preschool and primary school settings, whilst also contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the role parents can play in the broader context of dementia reduction strategies and the cultivation of brain health awareness among children.

Methods

Parents with children aged between 2 and 11 years old were interviewed about their current knowledge of dementia, prior beliefs, current lifestyle factors and opinions on educating their children from a young age on the topic of dementia literacy. Thematic deductive analysis was employed to systematically categorize and interpret the qualitative data obtained from these interviews.

Results

Thirty parents (M age = 38.6, SD = 4.9, Range = 32-48) identified three core themes on nurturing bodies and minds (e.g., conceptualizing the link between intellectual engagement, continuous learning, and the prevention of cognitive decline), brain health literacy (e.g., current knowledge and awareness of brain health, dementia and associated stigma, and provision of age-appropriate health literacy) and parental concerns (i.e., barriers to initiating conversations about dementia with children and strategies to address and alleviate parental concerns). Parents possessing prior knowledge of dementia and its modifiable risk factors exhibited greater propensity to educate their children on the associated risk factors.

Conclusion

Our study highlights the vital influence of parents' experiences, health literacy, and education on the acceptance of brain health education for children. Future interventions should target stigma reduction, enhance awareness, and offer accessible information on modifiable dementia risk factors, enabling a conducive environment for active parental involvement in educating children about brain health and contributing to future well-being.

Parents' attitudes towards the content of sex education in the USA: Associations with religiosity and political orientation

While most parents support their adolescents receiving school-based sex education, there is variability in which sex education topics receive the most support from parents. Conservative political orientation and greater religiosity have been independently associated with parents' lack of support for school-based sex education; however, no studies have examined the intersection of these two factors. The three goals of this study were to: 1) identify how specific sexual education topics cluster together to form content areas; 2) examine if religiosity and political orientation are uniquely associated with these content areas; and 3) examine if political orientation moderates the relationship between parents' religiosity and their perceived importance for the specific sex education content areas. Participants were a national sample of 881 US parents. The sex education topics clustered into three content areas: Factual Knowledge (e.g., STI transmission), Practical Skills (e.g., how to access condoms), and Pleasure and Identity (e.g., pleasurable aspects of sex). Politically conservative and more religious parents reported the lowest perceived importance for each content area. Importantly, these main effects were qualified by a significant interaction: parents who reported both political conservativism and high levels of religiosity reported the lowest perceived importance for these three content areas being taught.

Increased Parent Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education Over 15 Years

PURPOSE

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) has been shown to reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors and promote healthy sexual development, and studies have shown high support for this approach. However, the past decade has seen many changes in the political landscape and social controversies. The present study reports on an updated survey and analysis of changes in support from 2006 to 2021.

METHODS

Survey data were collected by telephone in 2006 (N = 1,605) and online and in-person in 2021 (N = 719) from separate samples of Minnesota parents of school-age children. Parents responded to items regarding preferences for CSE, support for teaching numerous specific sexuality education topics, and the grade level at which topics should be introduced. Chi-square tests and logistic regression (with weighted 2021 data) were used to detect differences in support between survey years and across demographic and personal characteristics.

RESULTS

At both time points, approximately 90% of parents thought that CSE should be taught in schools, with significant increases in support within several demographic categories. Support for including all specific topics was high, including for topics typically considered highly controversial (e.g., gender identity, 68.7%; abortion, 77.7% in 2021). Parents endorsed introducing most topics in elementary or middle school years.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest that policy makers and educators in Minnesota can be confident of strong parental support for CSE covering a wide range of content to meet students' needs. Advocacy and action to advance the use of national sexuality education standards are in keeping with the views of the overwhelming majority of parents of school-age children.

“It always gets pushed aside:” Qualitative perspectives on puberty and menstruation education in U.S.A. schools

Adolescent girls in the U.S.A. often lack sufficient education on pubertal and menstrual health topics. This educational gap may be growing given the current decline in American elementary and middle schools' delivery of sexual health education. Furthermore, little is known about the actual scope and quality of existing menstruation and puberty education in U.S.A. schools. This paper provides insights into some of the challenges with the delivery of menstruation and puberty education in schools. Qualitative and participatory research methodologies were utilized with Black and Latina girls ages 15–19 and adults working with youth in three U.S.A. cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City), exploring experiences of menstruation within school and family contexts. Findings revealed tension between school responsibility and family authority in providing menstruation and puberty education in schools, school- and teacher-related delivery challenges, and inadequate and disengaging menstruation and puberty content. Further research is needed on the effectiveness and best practices for providing this education in schools, including improved understanding on student and parent preferences, delivery mediums and the scope of content.

Sex education for adolescents: Indonesian nurse educators’ experience as parents

Objectives

Sex education toward adolescent remains the most controversial subject due to the various thoughts and ideas of different values present in society. Nurse educators as parents must exemplify sex education to their children. The aim of this present study was to explore parents’ experience, with nurse educators background to be exact, on how they convey sex education to their children.

Methods

This study is a descriptive qualitative study, and the sample is recruited by using the purposive sampling technique. The qualified participants filled in the informed consent, provided demographic data, and were interviewed. Saturation data were obtained at the 6th interview in this study. The interview is transcribed to find themes and subthemes using conventional content analysis.

Results

We derived 3 main themes: parents’ approach, sex education topic, and children's reaction. Parents’ approach contained 4 subthemes, namely, gender match, parent–child closeness, media, and attitude. Sex education topic included 5 subthemes of bodily autonomy, health and safety, reproductive anatomy, puberty-related changes, and how to maintain healthiness. Children's reaction experiences also included 4 subthemes of uncomfortable, questioning, acknowledging, and laughing.

Conclusions

As a matter of fact, some parents in eastern countries, such as Indonesia, conveyed sex education to their children. Children might have various reactions to that topic, but it is important to keep them safe, especially in reproductive health, regardless of the culture or tradition. Based on nurse educators as exemplifiers, nurses and nursing students might acquire the picture in conveying sex education to adolescents.

Moving from Needs Assessment to Intervention: Fathers' Perspectives on Their Needs and Support for Talk with Teens about Sex

Talk with fathers about sex and relationships can support teens' health, but its impact is limited as few fathers talk with their teens about sexual issues. Needs assessment and fathers' input on intervention content and structure can guide the development of programs that support fathers' health-promoting talk with their teen children about sex and relationships. In the present study, we explored fathers' goals in their talk with teens about sex and relationships and barriers they perceive to these conversations, as well as what they would look for in an intervention program. Content analysis was conducted using interviews in the U.S. with 43 fathers of high school-aged teens (age 14-18). Themes explored fathers' roles in talk with teens, key messages to teens, and approaches and barriers to conversations, in addition to attitudes toward an intervention, and feedback on intervention structure, content, and process. The findings suggest that fathers see talk with teens about sex as part of their roles, but face challenges in accomplishing this goal. Fathers' feedback highlights their openness to an intervention and can guide the development of a peer-based and interactive program that addresses how to talk with teens about sex in addition to the content of these conversations.

The Examination of Young Mexican American Women’s Contraceptive Use

The purpose of this paper is to review all literature on young Mexican American women’s contraceptive use practices in the U.S. to provide an overall picture of the largest Hispanic subgroup. We also discuss how sex education is important to contraceptive use and how parent-child sex communication takes place among young women of this specific population.

Parental Attitudes Towards Inclusiveness Instrument (PATII): Psychometric evaluation of a new instrument measuring parental beliefs about gender and sexuality diversity inclusions in schools

Despite ad hoc claims that parents often are in opposition to a schooling curriculum that is inclusive of gender and sexuality diversity, there exists no research to date that has canvassed the reasons why parents may oppose or support such educational policy via a psychometrically sound instrument. The aim of the present study was to address this gap by developing and testing a new, multidimensional measure of the theorized nature of parental attitudes towards inclusiveness, the Parental Attitudes Towards Inclusiveness Instrument (PATII). The pilot sample of 998 parents who had a child attending school in any grade from Kindergarten to Year 12 were drawn from the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (U.S.) via the online recruitment platform, Prolific. The PATII was evaluated for its reliability using McDonald's omega, construct and criterion validity, and measurement invariance utilizing exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM), with initial ESEM analyses also compared to traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) methods. Scores derived from this measure and inferences based upon those scores were reliable, valid, and also invariant across sex, religiosity, and nationality groups within this sample. Parental sex, religiosity, and nationality group membership were differentially correlated with support for and opposition to an inclusive curriculum. Lastly, the criterion validity of the PATII was supported, with the instrument's factors differentially correlated to parents' desired providers of inclusive education as predicted. Future national and international use of the PATII offers a critical first step to informing school and curriculum policy on inclusivity.