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Premarital Sexual Debut in Emerging Adults of South Asian Descent: The Role of Parental Sexual Socialization and Sexual Attitudes

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Abstract

Ethnicity is an important factor in premarital sexual debut as norms regarding appropriate sexual conduct outside of marriage vary considerably across cultures. Emerging adults of South Asian descent living in Western societies are an important demographic group, yet little is known about the factors that contribute to variations in their premarital sexual debut. The goal of this study was to investigate the contributions of parental sexual socialization and attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors to premarital sexual debut in emerging adults of South Asian descent. University students of South Asian descent (N = 87) aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire containing measures of parental attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, their own attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, and experience with oral sex and intercourse. Mediation analyses showed that perceptions of mothers’ as more permissive toward premarital sexual behaviors was associated with respondents reporting more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, which in turn was associated with a greater likelihood of having engaged in oral sex and intercourse. No significant effect was found for fathers. These findings suggest that parental sexual socialization may influence emerging adults of South Asian descent’s decision to engage in premarital sexual behaviors through the process of sexual attitudes formation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Keren Elton, Rabah Musa, and Zohair Syed for their precious help in data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Emilie Eve Gravel, Marta Yolande Young, Chantal Marielle Darzi & Andrea Ming-See Lee

  2. Centre for Interpersonal Relationships, Orléans, Canada

    Marcela Olavarria-Turner

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  1. Emilie Eve Gravel
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  2. Marta Yolande Young
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Correspondence to Emilie Eve Gravel.

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Gravel, E.E., Young, M.Y., Darzi, C.M. et al. Premarital Sexual Debut in Emerging Adults of South Asian Descent: The Role of Parental Sexual Socialization and Sexual Attitudes. Sexuality & Culture 20, 862–878 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9362-1

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