Parental influence on sexual intentions of Black adolescent girls: Examining the role of gendered-racial socialization.

Parents can promote the sexual health of adolescents in a number of well-established ways, such as through sexual communication and parental monitoring. Another unexplored avenue through which parents might influence sexual decision-making among Black girls is gendered-racial socialization-the process through which parents send messages to their Black daughters about what it means to be a Black girl, in part, to improve their self-esteem. In a national, U.S.-based sample of 287 Black girls (Mage = 15.4) and their parents (87.8% female), we examine how two dimensions of gendered-racial socialization (gendered-racial pride socialization; gendered-racial oppression socialization): (a) are related to adolescents' intentions to have early sex and (b) moderate the association of parental communication and monitoring with adolescents' intentions to have early sex. We found Black girls who are exposed to more empowering messages about Black girls and women are less likely to intend to have early sex. Additionally, gendered-racial pride socialization moderated the relationship between parental monitoring and intentions to have sex, such that more monitoring was associated with lower intentions to have early sex among girls low in gendered-racial pride socialization. For girls high in gendered-racial pride socialization, there was no relationship between parental monitoring and sexual intentions. Gendered-racial pride socialization is an important asset in Black families, which can be leveraged to improve the sexual health of Black girls. Future studies are needed to examine the causal, temporal pathways between gendered-racial socialization and sexual health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).