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Parents Matter: Associations Between Parent Connectedness and Sexual Health Indicators Among Transgender and Gender‐Diverse Adolescents
Author(s) -
Brown Camille,
Eisenberg Marla E.,
McMorris Barbara J.,
Sieving Renee E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
perspectives on sexual and reproductive health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.818
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1931-2393
pISSN - 1538-6341
DOI - 10.1363/psrh.12168
Subject(s) - transgender , reproductive health , social connectedness , population , psychology , demography , developmental psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , social psychology , environmental health , sociology , psychoanalysis
CONTEXT Transgender and gender‐diverse youth experience significant health disparities across numerous domains of health, including sexual health. Among general populations, parent connectedness has been strongly associated with youth sexual health. METHODS The relationships between parent connectedness and sexual health indicators were investigated among 2,168 transgender and gender‐diverse youth who participated in the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey, a statewide population‐based survey of ninth‐ and 11th‐grade students. Multivariate logistic regression models, stratified by sex assigned at birth, tested associations between parent connectedness—youth's perceptions of parent caring and parent–youth communication—and eight sexual health indicators: ever having had sex, having multiple sexual partners in the past year, pregnancy involvement, substance use at last sex, partner communication about STI prevention, partner communication about pregnancy prevention, condom use at last sex and pregnancy prevention methods at last sex. RESULTS The level of parent connectedness was inversely associated with ever having had sex, regardless of sex assigned at birth (odds ratios, 0.6–0.8). Although level of connectedness was inversely associated with having multiple sexual partners in the past year and pregnancy involvement among transgender and gender‐diverse youth assigned male at birth (0.6–0.7), these relationships were nonsignificant among transgender and gender‐diverse youth assigned female at birth. Further differences in associations between parent connectedness and four sexual risk–reduction behaviors were found between youth assigned male at birth and those assigned female. CONCLUSIONS As with other populations, parent connectedness promotes sexual health among transgender and gender‐diverse youth and may provide a point of intervention.