Background: Delaying early sexual initiation among adolescents remains a major public health priority as approximately 745,000 pregnancies occur to adolescent females each year in the United States, the highest among any developed nation (Ventura, Abma, Mosher & Henshaw, 2008). In addition, the acquisition of a sexually transmitted infection disproportionately affects this population (CDC, 2009). Sexual initiation before age 16 has been linked to negative sexual health sequelae (Abma, Martinez, Mosher & Dawson, 2004; Holcombe, Carrier, Manlove & Ryan, 2008; MacKay, 2007). Child developmental theory identifies early adolescence (10-14 years) as a critical transition period. Girls have been found to have lower levels of self-identity formation, and more amenable to parental influence during this time period (Allison & Schultz, 2001). The mother-daughter dyadic relationship is a powerful force within the family (Dickerson & Crase, 2005) and compared to fathers, mothers are often the parent primarily responsible for care giving, nurturance (Santrock, 2007) and monitoring (DiClemente et al., 2001). Specific variables within the mother-daughter relationship were examined. Three core dimensions (cohesion, flexibility, and communication) from the circumplex model of family systems (Olson, Russell & Sprenkle, 1983; Olson & Gorall, 2006) were used as well as two others (parental monitoring and satisfaction with time spent together) identified from the literature (Borawski, Ievers-Landis, Lovegreen & Trapl, 2003; Crosnoe & Trinitapoli, 2008).
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the association of cohesion, flexibility, communication, monitoring and satisfaction of time spent together (as perceived by the daughter) with sexual initiation by age 16 years. A sample of 1592 adolescent females and their mothers was used for this analysis.
Methods: The sample was drawn from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child and Young Adult surveys (NLSY79). The dependent measure was the females’ self reported age at sexual initiation. Mother-daughter relationship variables examined were: cohesion, flexibility, communication, monitoring and satisfaction of time spent together during early adolescence. Sociodemographic characteristics of: race/ethnicity, family structure, age of mother at her daughter’s birth, mother’s education, and net family income were also included in the analysis.
Results: Girls who reported being satisfied with the amount of time spent together, high levels of cohesion, and good communication with their mother were less likely to report sexual initiation by age 16. Girls who came from homes with higher family incomes, whose mothers had a high school diploma or higher, and who were born to mothers who were not teen mothers themselves were also less likely to report sexual initiation before age 16. In addition, the mother-daughter relationship was also associated with reduced report of sexual initiation by age 16 for those with 3 or more positive dimensions within the relationship.
Conclusions: Results support that high levels of cohesion, good communication and being satisfied with the time spent together in the mother-daughter relationship during early adolescence is associated with later sexual initiation in the daughter. This suggests that this relationship may act as a protective factor against sexual initiation prior age 16.