Citation

Turnbull T, Van Wersch A, van Schaik P. Health Educ. J. 2011; 70(3): 240-248.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Health Education Journal, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0017896911398817

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Objective: To identify how British families discuss sexual matters and to determine if the use of a multimedia computer program increases knowledge to promote communication about sexual topics.Design: A mixed-method approach in which families were interviewed within the family environment.Method: Twenty families from the north east of England were recruited through purposive sampling. The first element of the research involved semi-structured interviews to identify how sexual matters were discussed within families. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin.1 The second part of the research involved families exploring a sex and relationship education resource to determine if knowledge and confidence in knowledge enhanced communication about sexual matters within families.Results: The majority of parents and their children were found to discuss sexual matters openly within families. The resource was found to affect communication of sexual topics and increased knowledge and confidence in knowledge of parents and their children.Conclusion: The results highlight the feasibility of using multimedia computer programs to educate and increase communication about sexual matters within families. Future research needs to focus on more diverse populations to assess the accuracy of this research and the possibility of developing parent programmes with the aim of educating parents so they can provide effective sex education to their children.