A Survey of Teens and Adults on Parental Influence on Sexual Decision Making - With One Voice

Results from a new national public opinion survey of teens and adults provides some guidance on what might help to reverse the recent increase in the teen birth rate. Results from the survey indicate that when it comes to teens’ decisions about sex, parents are more influential than they think:

• Teens say parents (31%) most influence their decisions about sex—more than friends (18%), the media (7%), teachers and sex educators (3%) and others.
• 43% of adults believe that friends most influence teens’ decisions about sex; only 24% of adults believe that parents are most influential.
• 73% of adults and a plurality of teens wish that teens were getting more information about both abstinence and contraception, rather than either/or.