Psychology Commons^™

A Longitudinal Study Of Conversations With Parents About Sex And Dating During College, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Avril Thorne, Eileen L. Zurbriggen

Elizabeth M. Morgan

Emerging adulthood is a time of sexual and romantic relationship development as well as change in the parent– child relationship. This study provides a longitudinal analysis of 30 young adults’ (17 women, 13 men) sexual experiences, attitudes about sexuality and dating, and reported conversations with parents about sexuality and dating from the 1st and 4th years of college. Self-report questionnaires revealed increases in general closeness with parents, increases in sexual and dating experiences, and more sexually permissive as well as more gender stereotyped attitudes. Qualitative analyses of individual interviews indicated a movement from unilateral and restrictive sex-based topics to more …