Exploring Parental Intentions to Use Digital Tools to Enhance Parent-Child Sexual Communication in Europe: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
PMC12552825
· 10.2196/75489
Gap Declaration
Our findings directly inform this, as they highlight which sociodemographic groups may be less likely to adopt the technology and why. Tailored information campaigns may then be developed to build trust and highlight the apps’ utility for these groups, as well as explain the benefits of comprehensive sexuality education. For example, our identification of education level as significantly associated with perceived relevance to parenting should be useful to future researchers in this area. Care should be taken to engage parents with lower levels of educational attainment to emphasize the importance of parent-child sexual communication on their children’s development. It is, however, noteworthy that this reduction in perceived relevance to parenting did not affect parents’ overall intention to use the technology. [...] We identified that relevance to parenting and quality of technology were the critical determinants of parental intention to use hypothetical sexuality education apps. Our findings contribute to the theoretical advancement of the TAM in the context of parent-child sexual communication and provide actionable recommendations for app developers, researchers, and educators. Future research should involve real-world evaluations of intergenerational sexuality education apps to further refine our understanding and improve communication tools available for parents and their children. This is with the overall aim of ensuring parents can engage in high-quality, unprejudicial, and open communication with their children on sexual health topics. Authors' Contributions: TRH and JT conceived of the project concept.
Abstract
Background Parent-child communication about sexuality education is critical for safe adolescent sexual development and well-being. Yet, there is evidence that these conversations are often ineffective. Digital tools have therefore emerged as promising interventions that may assist parents in addressing sensitive or difficult topics. However, our understanding of the factors that may motivate parental adoption of these technologies remains limited. Objective This study aimed to explore factors associated with European parents’ intentions to use a digital tool designed to support parent-child sexual communication and complement school-based sexuality education. The study was conducted across the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Italy. Methods Using the technology acceptance model, we applied str…
Conclusions / Discussion
Discussion Principal Findings and Comparison With Previous Works This work examined the potential for a hypothetical intergenerational app designed to enhance parent-child sexual communication and align parental efforts with school-based sexuality education. Using a modified TAM, we explored factors that may relate to parents’ intention to use the proposed digital tool. We sampled across 3 distinct regions in an attempt to obtain perspectives of parents across the spectrum of European opinion. Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Italy were selected because they differ in sociopolitical contexts: Belgium has progressive sexuality education policies, the United Kingdom is in an intermediate position, and Italy lacks a national mandate for sexuality education and holds more conservative social norms. These contextual contrasts were mirrored in our descriptive statistics: Italian parents reported higher religiosity and fewer nonheterosexual identities, while parents from Belgium and the United Kingdom were more open to their children having alternative gender and sexual identities. Together, these findings suggest that both sociopolitical climate and demographic composition shaped parents…
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Structural Hole
65% bridge
Technique originates in genomics bioinformatics; functional analogues in epidemiology, psychology literature are absent.
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