Copyright by Diana Lucellan Orozco-Lapray 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Diana Lucellan Orozco-Lapray Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Family Socialization Of Sexuality: Parents’ Awareness Of Physical Sexuality Development During Early Childhood And Adolescence Committee: Su Yeong Kim, Supervisor Jessica Duncan Cance, Co-Supervisor Marci Gleason Stephen Russell Family Socialization Of Sexuality: Parents’ Awareness Of Physical Sexuality Development During Early Childhood And Adolescence by Diana Lucellan Orozco-Lapray Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2017 Dedication To my sisters, Paula and Veronica; my mother, Ana; my father, Diego; my grandparents, Lucellan, Gloria and Francisco; my stepdad, Patrick; my cousin, Cesar; my aunts, Martha, Angelica and Patty; and my uncles, Pepe, Carlos, and Anthony. Each of you helped me grow into the person I am today. It remains my privilege to be surrounded by all of you as my family and enveloped by love, laughter and hope. You all dissipated my doubts with encouragement and support and celebrated my achievements small and large. To you each, and to Dylan: Thank you. Acknowledgements To Su Yeong Kim – you asked me to consider a doctoral program and with that simple instruction changed my life. To Jessica Duncan Cance – when I was unsure of the direction my work would take, you invited me into your work and gave me new perspective. You both challenged me and encouraged me to be the scholar and mentor I am today. I will always be grateful to you for believing in me and seeing me through this. To my dissertation committee members, Marci Gleason and Stephen Russell – I thank you for your feedback, support and encouragement through the past five years. Thank you, Paul Eastwick, for your support during earlier stages of my work. To Amy Bryan, PD Jolley and Meena Adhikari – you each encouraged me to think critically and creatively about children’s development and taught me to observe my world through a developmental lens. To my students, the research team that made my work possible – Fariya Sahadat, Fatima Frausto, Luiz Garcia, Nikita Dhir, Cooper Latimer, Abraham Peek, Andy Gonzalez, Ifeoluwa Bada, Cameron Watkins, and Lucia Guerrero – you each embraced my goals and work as your own and challenged me to be the best mentor I could be. I drew energy from the encouragement and enthusiasm you gave each other, and I am humbled by your dedication and support; thank you. To my parents, sisters, family and friends – thank you for supporting me for the past decade. Thank you, Vero, for inspiring me every day. Last but not least, thank you, Dylan: Your love, support and patience were essential to my success. Finally, thank you to the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, my academic home and family, for the funding and support that made my work possible. v Family Socialization Of Sexuality: Parents’ Awareness Of Physical Sexuality Development During Early Childhood And Adolescence Diana Lucellan Orozco-Lapray, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Su Yeong Kim Co-Supervisor: Jessica Duncan Cance Despite other assumptions, sexuality is a multifaceted concept important to many aspects of one’s being that develops as early as infancy. Socially, however, sexuality is not an acknowledge part of early childhood, rather something that emerges as part of puberty, during adolescence. Parents’ ability to recognize physical sexuality development milestones and interpret their meaning and place within development is crucial to promoting positive, healthy sexuality development. In this dissertation, I propose a theoretical framework for children’s sexuality development, and family socialization of sexuality, from birth to adulthood. Empirically, I examine parents’ observations and responses to physical milestones related to sexuality development during early childhood and during adolescence. Two studies juxtapose the periods of early childhood, ages 1-4 years old, and adolescence, ages 12 – 15, to examine parents’ observations, and aspects of parent-child communication at two distinct periods. In the first study, I interviewed 20 parents of young children, and found four themes that summarized parents’ awareness of sexuality development: 1) Parents rely on their own experiences to form interpretations of their child’s behaviors, 2) Parents observed, but are uncertain about sexuality vi development in early childhood, 3) Communication between parents about sexuality is limited or implied, and 4) Sexuality does not yet apply to their child. In the second study, I quantitatively examine whether mothers’ observations of children’s pubertal development and puberty knowledge are associated with their inclination for and initiation of puberty-related communication. Analyses of 133 mother-reports, showed mixed significant and non-significant findings. Together, these studies showcase parents’ observations of sexuality and physical development, the need for parents and researchers to reconsider the age of occurrence for sexuality and pubertal milestones, and provide empirical support to the proposed theoretical framework for children’s sexuality development within the family. vii Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ....................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures ........................................................................................................xv Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................1 Background and Context.................................................................................3 Sexuality Development Across Development Domains ........................3 Providing Sexuality Education Without Attention to Sexuality Development .................................................................................6 Parents And Parenting Couples .............................................................9 Childhood Sexuality.............................................................................11 Problem Statement ........................................................................................12 Statement of Purpose ....................................................................................12 Research Questions ..............................................................................13 Definitions of Key Terminology ...................................................................14 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ........................................................................17 Overview .......................................................................................................17 Primary Theories: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory..........................................................................17 Supporting Theories: Ecodevelopmental Model, Family Systems Theory, and Fisher’s Narrative Theory ....................................................19 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................23 Parent-Child Exchanges .......................................................................27 Lifespan categories ..............................................................................28 Category 1: Birth to Toddlerhood: Focal Category of Study 1. .29 Category 2: Childhood (ages 4-8). ..............................................29 Category 3: Pre-pubescence (ages 8-12). ....................................30 Category 4: Adolescence (ages 12-18): Inclusive of the focal category of Study 2 (ages 12-15). ......................................31 Categories 5 and 6: Emerging Adulthood and Adulthood. .........32 viii Stages of sexuality development ..........................................................33 Stage 1: Birth, Infancy and Toddlerhood. Focal stage of Study 1.34 Stage 2. Pre-pubescence..............................................................35 Stage 3: Adolescence. Focal stage of Study 2. ...........................36 Stage 4. Emerging Adulthood. ....................................................38 Stage 5. Adulthood. (After The Transition to Parenthood). .......39 Chapter 3: Parenting And Children’s Sexuality Development In Early Childhood40 Overview .......................................................................................................40 Background ...................................................................................................40 Early Sexuality Development ..............................................................40 Parents and Early Sexuality Development ...........................................43 Methodology .................................................................................................46 Overview of Methodology ...................................................................46 Sample..................................................................................................46 Procedures ............................................................................................48 Measures ..............................................................................................52