Time for “The Talk” . . . Now What? Autonomy Support and Structure in Mother-Daughter Conversations About Sex
Abstract
This study explored how mothers communicated with their young adolescent daughters about the high-stakes topic of sex, as well as more everyday topics, from a Self-Determination Theory perspective. Mothers and their 11- to 14-year-old daughters (44 dyads) participated in two conversations and reported on their experiences. In the everyday conversation, maternal autonomy support was positively related to daughters’ experience, engagement, and desire for additional conversations. In the sex conversation, maternal structure was positively associated with daughters’ engagement, experience, and desire for additional conversations. Mothers were less autonomy supportive in conversations about sex, as compared to everyday topics. Maternal perceptions of threat were associated with less autonomy support in both conversations and worry during the conversation was negatively associated with autonomy support in the everyday conversation, and with structure in the sex conversation. Implications for intervention are discussed.
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Parental autonomy support and control manifest differently during a puzzle solving task with toddlers versus during a conversation about sexuality or friendships with adolescents.
“To illustrate, parental autonomy support and control manifest differently during a puzzle solving task with toddlers (e.g., Bernier et al. 2010) versus during a conversation about sexuality (Mauras et al. 2013) or friendships with adolescents (e.g., Wuyts et al. 2018).”
From Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions (2020) · cites this paper as Mauras et al. 2013
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References 49 · Cited by 123
- Authors
- Mauras, C. P., Grolnick, W. S., & Friendly, R. W.
- Affiliations
- Clark University (US)
- ORCID
- Grolnick, Wendy S.
- Venue
- The Journal of Early Adolescence
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-06-21
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 458-481
- ISSN
- 0272-4316 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-5449
- OpenAlex
- W2151740254
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 86 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Early Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- Clark Digital Commons (Clark University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Keywords
- sex talk, autonomy support, structure, self-determination theory, adolescent sexuality, maternal communication, threat perception, maternal worry, parent-adolescent relationships
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