MOTHER AND ADOLESCENT KNOWLEDGE OF SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT - THE EFFECTS OF GENDER, AGE, AND SEXUAL EXPERIENCE

As part of a larger study on the impact of personal and family charact eristics on adolescents' HIV risk and risk-reduction behavior, 90 adol escents and 73 mothers were asked to define in their own words seven t erms related to sexual development: ejaculation, hormones, menstruatio n, ovulation, puberty, semen, and wet dreams. Mother and adolescent kn owledge of sexual. development terms and the effects of age and sexual experience on that knowledge were examined. Results suggest that the mothers were not able to adequately define the sexual development term s and thus may be ill-prepared to teach their children about sex or re inforce information they learn in school. Since adolescent knowledge d id not significantly increase with age and sexual experience, the rese archers. suggest that continuing sex education about normal sexual dev elopment is needed.