Communication and sexual behavior among heterosexual university women

The number of AIDS cases in women is growing more rapidly with heterosexual transmission becoming the fastest growing mode of infection. The present study was interested in communication as a factor which may affect young women's sexual behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine general and sexual communication in the family with regard to sexual behavior and investigate the roles that fathers and mothers play in sexual communication, the types of issues they discuss, and whether the communication process is effective in relaying the message. The results indicated that one quarter of the subjects defined themselves as virgins although the majority of women were sexually active. With multiple partners and inconsistent condom use, the sexually active women were engaging in risky sexual behavior. However, the study also found a great deal of variability within the virgin subgroup that indicated that some virgins may also be at risk for certain STD's, including HIV. It was found that neither general nor sexual communication with mothers or fathers differed between virgins, non-virgins, high or low risk women. While open-ended stories about sexual communication with parents provided detailed insight into the dynamics of communication, they were consistent with the scales in finding that mothers were the primary sex educators while fathers were rarely participating in sexual communication with their daughters. Possible explanations for the findings and ideas for future research are suggested.