Cross-cultural differences in parental attitudes and experiences of childhood sexual education were examined. Parental attitudes and experiences were isolated for study because of their significance as a vehicle for transmitting culturally prescribed norms. The present study also tested for artifactual differences between cultures, in terms of explaining the differences with concomitant variability. Couples with children ranging in age from 1 to 10 were utilized and were drawn from four subcultures (Mexican-American, N = 22, Black American, N = 20, Caucasian American, N = 27, and Japanese-American, N = 18). The most salient and consistent finding was the pronounced significance of the covariate controls (especially father's education and mother's religiosity). That is, although a few cross-cultural effects remained significant despite the influence of a covariate, most of the findings were biased by a concomitant (i.e., demographic) variable.
PIP: This study examines cross-cultural differences in parental attitudes and experiences regarding childhood sexual education. These were isolated for study because of their significance as a vehicle for transmitting culturally prescribed norms. Parents with children ranging in age from 1 to 10 were included, from 4 cultural groups: of the 87 couples, all Americans, 22 were Mexican, 20 Black, 27 Caucasian, and 18 Japanese in background. Questionnaires 1st assessed demographic variables, then asked parents to provide consensual responses to 4 aspects of sex education: 1) parental comfort with discussing specific sexual issues with their children; 2) parental beliefs about the age at which children should be taught various aspects of sexuality; 3) experiences with discussing sexuality with children; and 4) open-ended questions designed to obtain more qualitative information. Typical of the results are those for the question of parental comfort with discussing sexual issues: Mexican American parents expressed the most discomfort discussing such issues as masturbation, intercourse and nudity with their children, suggesting a pattern of cultural effects; however, an analysis of covariance indicated that husband's education was related to each of these findings rather than cultural differences. In general, the most salient and consistent finding of the investigation is the pronounced significance of the covariate controls. Although a few cross-cultural effects remained significant despite the influence of a covariate, most of the findings were biased by a concomitant demographic variable, such as father's education or mother's religiosity. Given the strength of the concomitant variables, one needs to question to what extent the abundance of cross cultural differences (at least within the US) are statistical artifacts. When drawing conclusions about parental influences on sex education of children, future research will need to specify both the population under study and the psychometric properties of the measurement device.