The correlates of sexual experience and reasons for abstinence among Asian Americans.

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the sexual socialization experiences of Asian American emerging adults by assessing the content and frequency of parent and peer sexual communication and their links to sexual experience and reasons for abstinence. Method: In addition to reports of parent and peer communication on four discourses-abstinence until marriage, gendered sexual roles, acceptance of casual sex, and sex is taboo-154 college students (44% female, M ϭ 19.21 years old) also reported on language use with parents, percentage of best friends who were Asian, and parent rules regarding dating and time spent with friends. Results: As expected, peer communication was more frequent and more permissive than parent communication, and women reported receiving far more restrictive messages than did men. Of parent messages, only those portraying sex as taboo was linked to stronger endorsement of abstinence to avoid physical risks, whereas proabstinence messages from friends were linked to endorsing abstinence for family and culture reasons, to avoid physical risks, and because of general discomfort. Conclusion: Findings suggest that parent rules may be a primary means by which Asian parents are perceived as conveying their attitudes and expectations about sexuality and that same-race best friends serve simultaneously as sexual and cultural socialization agents. Public Significance StatementThis study addressed the lack of research on Asian Americans' sexual socialization and sexual health by examining possible culturally relevant factors. Parent rules about dating and time spent with friends were linked to parent communication but not to sexual behavior. Same-race friends and proabstinence messages from friends, however, were each associated with less sexual experience and with stronger support for various reasons for abstinence.

“They Don’t See Us”: Asian Students’ Perceptions of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment on Three California Public University Campuses

“…Consistent with previous research on SVSH in college campus environments, our study demonstrated how factors across different socio-ecological levels shaped Asian students; perceptions of and responses to SVSH. These factors included the following: (a) individual-level perceptions of self-blame, guilt, and fear related to SVSH victimization ( Gilligan & Akhtar, 2006 ; Kenny & McEachern, 2000 ; Koo et al, 2012 , 2015 ; Okazaki, 2002 ; (b) interpersonal dynamics with family and friends that were negative or unsupportive ( Kim & Ward, 2007 ; Kim, 2009 ; Liang et al, 2008 ; Malik et al, 2020 ; Morgan et al, 2010 ; Trinh & Kim, 2021 ); (c) complicated and often distrusted institutional procedures encompassing Title IX, campus police, and university administration ( Goldman, 2019 ; Gómez, 2022 ; Monteith et al, 2016 ; Smith & Freyd, 2013 ); and (d) societal norms that perpetuated negative discourse surrounding SVSH ( Brubaker et al, 2017 ; Daigle et al, 2018 ; Holland & Cortina, 2017 ; Postel, 2015 , 2020 ; Scholl et al, 2021 ).…”

“…For instance, studies have shown that parents convey messages like abstinence, gendered sex roles, and sex as taboo in Asian households. Such restrictive messages around sexuality reinforce conservative and gender-stereotypical attitudes ( Kim & Ward, 2007 ; Kim, 2009 ; Liang et al, 2008 ; Malik et al, 2020 ; Morgan et al, 2010 ; Trinh & Kim, 2021 ). In a survey conducted with East and Southeast Asian college female students, respondents reported that their parents were the least common source of their sex education ( Lee et al, 2013 ).…”

Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy Among Young Adult Filipino American Women

“…Despite the heterogenicity among Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs), and APIs being the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, researchers often have overlooked APIs, as clinicians perceive this population as having minimal health concerns, partly due to the “model minority” myth ( Shih et al, 2019 ; Trieu et al, 2013 ). When studies have included APIs, they often have involved a small, limited sample size and often aggregate research data to represent the API umbrella ( Ansari-Thomas et al, 2020 ; Trinh & Kim, 2021 ). Combining data gives a false sense of reassurance that API subgroups have all done well uniformly.…”

The intersection of neighborhood and race in urban adolescent health risk behaviors

“…Further, Black adolescents have demonstrated greater likelihood of having at least three‐lifetime sexual partners compared to White adolescents, which is associated with greater risks of sexually transmissible infection (E. Williams et al, 2018). Unfortunately, a relative paucity of sexual health research among Asian and Multiracial youth precludes comparisons among these two groups (Landor & Halpern, 2016; Trinh & Kim, 2021). The present study sought to identify environmental correlates of the disparities in adolescent health risk behaviors across racial groups by investigating the potential direct roles of neighborhood contexts.…”