Evaluation of the parents as primary sexuality educators program

Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of a sexuality education program designed to help parents become more confident and competent in communicating with their children about sex and sexuality. Methods: Parents attending a four- to five-part workshop series between February 2001 and April 2002 were recruited to participate. A total of 27 workshop series were conducted at various sites in neighborhoods with high teen pregnancy and STD rates. For each series, program staff administered written pre- and post-workshop surveys to parents and parent surrogates. A follow-up telephone survey was conducted with participants 10 weeks after the last workshop. Matched pre-workshop and follow-up surveys were obtained from 174 participants. Results: Comparison of follow-up to pre-workshop responses revealed that more participants thought discussing sexuality with their children was very important (83% vs. 75%; p < .01). More participants also reported that they often initiate conversations with their children on a variety of topics including sex/intercourse, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), pregnancy, sexuality and gender issues, and their personal standards for sexual behavior. Participants also became more comfortable discussing sensitive topics with their children. At follow-up, more participants responded that they were very comfortable answering their children's questions on the above topics. (All p values < .01.) Conclusions: The Parents as Primary Sexuality Educators program may be an effective way to increase parent-child communication about health, sexuality, and values. Enhancing parents' ability to communicate expectations and values about sexuality may help support children in making healthy decisions about sexual behavior as adolescents. 2005 Society for Adolescent Medicine. All rights reserved.