THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL MESSAGES ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE WOMENS ADOLESCENT SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR

To clarify the relationship between sexual communication and sexual be havior, multiple components of sexual messages recalled from childhood were examined in a community sample of 248 African-American and White women. Respondents were matched on a predesignated set of demographic variables and were interviewed using the Wyatt Sexual History Questio nnaire. We anticipated that women's recollections of messages from par ents and television would differ both individually and across ethnicit y, and that messages recalled from parents would be multidimensional, varying in tone (positive vs. negative) across time (childhood vs. ado lescence) and form (verbal vs. nonverbal). We also expected that the p resence and tone of specific types of messages recalled would be assoc iated with risk-related sexual behavior. Results confirmed predictions concerning differential interpretations of messages, and ethnicity em erged as a strong mediating variable. The implications of the specific types of parental messages influencing behavior are discussed.