Sex talk with parents leads to less risky behaviors among teens: study

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As it turns out,  the dreaded, not to mention awkward, conversation about sex most parents usually eluded has to happen at some point to help young adults make better decisions.

This is according to a new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, Nov. 2, that associates sex talk between parents, especially moms, and their young children with teen behavior that may include the use of protection during intercourse.

"Talking with your kids about sex and protection matters," psychologist and lead study author, Laura Widman, from the Department of Psychology in North Carolina State University told NBC News.

"Starting this conversation, no matter how awkward and uncomfortable and embarrassing it might be - your kid will listen," she said. "We found this overall effect - that teens that talk with their parents about safer sex topics like condoms and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) were more likely to use protection than teens that didn't have these conversations."

Widman and her colleagues took into account 30 years of data from 52 previous related studies involving more than 25,000 adolescents. The main objective of the research is to examine the effect of parent-adolescent sexual communication on safer sex behavior among youth. 

According to the sexual risk behavior data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47 percent among U.S. high school students surveyed in 2013 had ever had sexual intercourse, and 41 percent of them did not use a condom the last time they had sex. What's even more troubling is that, at that tender age, 15 percent have had sex with four or more partners already.

These sexual behaviors among teens put them at risk for HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy according to the government agency. The data also showed that close to 10,000 young people between the ages of 13 to 24 years old were diagnosed with HIV infection in the United States in 2013, and about 273,000 babies were born to teen girls aged 15-19 years in the same year.

Widman also added that, although, this kind of talks with parents may be one important factor in helping youth make safer choices, there are also other things to consider, especially because the link between parent communication and teen sexual behavior was relatively small.

She advised parents to communicate with their children and talk about other subjects like substance use, peer pressure and a lack of communication that may also factor in on teens' risky sexual choices.