THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL MESSAGES ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE WOMEN'S ADOLESCENT SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

To clarify the relationship between sexual communication and sexual behavior, multiple components of sexual messages recalled from child hood were examined in a community sample of 248 African-American and White women. Respondents were matched on a predesignated set of demographic variables and were interviewed using the Wyatt Sexual History Questionnaire. We anticipated that women's recollections of messages from parents and television would differ both individually and across ethnicity, and that messages recalled from parents would be multidimensional, varying in tone (positive vs. negative) across time (childhood vs. adolescence) and form (verbal vs. nonverbal). We also expected that the presence and tone of specific types of messages re called would be associated with risk-related sexual behavior. Results confirmed predictions concerning differential interpretations of messages, and ethnicity emerged as a strong mediating variable. The implications of the specific types of parental messages influencing behavior are discussed.