Study: Devoted dads key to reducing teen sex
With father’s day coming up, here’s some powerful new research about the importance of dad’s involvement in their kids lives.
Teens whose dads are more involved are less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors. And while a mom’s influence can help stave off unprotected sex too, a dad’s devotion has twice the effect, according to a new study by researchers at Boston College.
“Maybe there’s something different about the way fathers and adolescents interact,” the study’s lead author Rebekah Levine Coley told MSNBC. “It could be because it’s less expected for fathers to be so involved, so it packs more punch when they are.”
The researchers surveyd 3,206 teens, ages 13 to 18, who all came from two-parent homes. They were asked both about their sexual behaviors and about their relationships with their parents, including how much each parent knows about how they spend their time when they’re not home, and how much time they spent with each parent on activites like eating or playing games.
The impact of family time overall was especially notable. One additional family activity per week predicted a 9 percent drop in sexual activity.
Photo by Mike Baird
