Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Services

Advisor

Nazarene Tubman

Abstract

Parents are a key influence on their adolescent children's sexual health care decisions. Few researchers have considered the impact of religious environments and parental expectations on adolescents’ use of sexual health services, and research on religious parents’ awareness of adolescents’ use of sexual health services in Christian environments is scarce. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore religious parents' awareness of and attitudes toward their adolescents’ use of sexual health services. The social ecological theory provided the conceptual lens for this study. Eight Christian parents participated in in-depth virtual interviews to discuss their encouragement or discouragement of their adolescent's utilization of sexual health services as well as how their home environment may have influenced their awareness of their children's use of such services. Analysis of the recorded and transcribed interviews yielded emergent themes related to parent perspectives and home environments. Participants spoke to the importance of teaching their adolescents to abide by Christian beliefs in the home as a deterrent to accessing sexual health services but did not address their knowledge of whether their children had already needed or used these health care services. Access to pertinent educational materials may provide parents in Christian homes with useful tools for fostering parental engagement in the sexual health service needs of their adolescents. The study may contribute to positive social change by clarifying the need for services and resources to prevent harm that adolescents may experience in obtaining sexual health services without parental aid.

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