Sex Communication

Sex Communication

The researchers undertook the current study with two goals: *To examine the relationship between general sexual communication and contraceptive use in romantically involved adolescent couples who are sexually active, and *To learn more about predictors of open communication from characteristics of adolescent couples and individual adolescents. The authors examined data on 209 couples who had been dating for at least four weeks and who participated in the Study of Tennessee Adolescent Romantic Relationships. Included in the current analyses were 73 couples (ages 14-21) who had had sexual intercourse and who completed a sexual communication questionnaire. Among the study's findings: *Almost 30 percent of couples did not use contraception at first intercourse. *Almost 50 percent of couples did not use contraception every time they had sex. *More open sexual communication by both partners was associated with increased contraceptive use. *Adolescents who said they were more satisfied with their relationships reported more open sexual communication, "and adolescent females who self-silenced reported less open communication about sex." *In mediation analyses, boys' and girls' relationship satisfaction and girls' self-silencing "indirectly predicted contraceptive use through their effects on general sexual communication." The report's findings "suggest that open sexual communication between intimate partners is important to sexual decision-making," the authors concluded.