Longitudinal Associations Between Family Environment and Parent–Adolescent Sexual Communication: Moderation by Adolescent Sex

Abstract

Abstract Parent–adolescent sexual communication is an established protective factor for adolescent sexual health. However, the specific family-level antecedents predicting these conversations remain poorly understood. Using longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) data ( N = 4,593), we examined how family Cohesion, Conflict, Expressiveness, and Intellectual-Cultural Orientation at ages 11–12 predicted sexual communication at ages 13–14. Logistic regressions tested associations and moderation by adolescent sex in this sex-balanced, racially diverse sample. In the overall sample, intellectual-cultural orientation was the only consistent predictor, positively associated with abstinence, safer sex, and any sexual communication. Adolescent sex moderated the effect of cohesion such that higher cohesion predicted significantly lower odds of all communication outcomes for females but showed no association for males. Family intellectual-cultural orientation consistently predicted sexual communication, supporting interventions that cultivate intellectually engaged climates. However, high cohesion inhibited communication for female adolescents, highlighting the need for interventions that address the gendered socialization processes silencing daughters in close-knit families.