Chapter 1

Introduction
Background of the study
Parenting in the Philippines has been shaped by the unique history, values,
experiences, adaptations, and ways of being that characterize the Filipino people and their
culture (Alampay, L.).
According to Dr. Miel Nora, technical advisor on Adolescent Sexuality and
Reproductive Health of Save the Children Philippines, a study says 85 percent of parents
know about puberty changes, romantic relationships. But mothers are reluctant to discuss it
with their children. They don’t know when to teach that. Lack of sexual education was seen
as one of the reasons why the Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Asia.
It’s because we see sex and reproductive health topics at home taboo. This has become our
culture.
Talking about sex is not in all or nothing event. Parents and other family members
play critical roles in shaping adolescent sexual behavior through their parenting practices,
sexuality communication and modeling of risks reduction strategies (Li et al., 2000: Miller et
al. 1999; Romer et al., 1994). A recent study found that repetition of sexual discussions
talking about topics more than once was associated with adolescents feeling closer to the
parent and with a sense of open communication. The content of parent adolescent sexual
discussions can never a range of topics including biological and developmental issues (e.g.
puberty) values, healthy relationships, and pregnancy and STD prevention.
Sexual communication between parent and child is a continuous cycle. It must be
studied in order to observe what effects are being felt by the child and how that shapes
them in their adult life. Thus, it is extremely important for parents to take an action now in
their child's sexual education (Wilson, Dalberth, Koo, and Gard, 2010). However, gender of
the parent maybe the most significant parental factor in the occurrence of an amount of
sexuality communication that takes place between parent and child in the home. Gender of
the parent and gender of the child influence each other when it comes to sexuality
communication and who talks to whom. Butterfield and Sidelinger, 1998, Dilorio et al.,
2000; Miller, Kotchick, Dorsey, Forehand and Ham, 1998). Mothers tend to be more likely to
talk to daughters than sons and fathers are more likely to sons than daughters. Similarly,
Jory, Rainbolt, Karns, Freeborn, and Green (1996), who studied communication patterns,
founds that the gender of both the teen and the parent influences the style and substance
of discussions.
Parent-child communication about personal matters, including sex is more likely to
occur with mothers than fathers, as mothers tend to be more familiar with their
adolescents lives and health status (Bearman, Jones & Uday, 1997). Daughters in one study
reported that more than 70% of their mothers had provided them with some information
on sexuality while only about 20% of fathers had done so (Hutchinson & Cooney, 1998).
Mothers communicate more with teens than fathers do (Baldwin & Baranoski, 1990; Nolin
& Deterson, 1992; Sigelman et al. 1993) where adolescents report greater amounts of
sexual risk communication with mothers than fathers and mother-adolescent sexual
communication occurs more frequently and with greater comfort, encompassing a wider
range of topics (Dilato et al. 1999; Fieldman and Rosenthal, 2000; Guzman et al. 2003;
Hutchinson & Cooney, 1998; Hutchinson & Montgomery, 2007; Lefkowitz…) which Fieldman
and Rosenthal (2000) found the most important factor in the youths evaluation of mothers
as sex educators was the quality of communication. Adolescents were comfortable in sex
related communications when mothers talk openly, made an effort to make them
comfortable, encouraged questions, talked about sexual issues like any other health related
topics.
However, studies that have examined sexual communication between fathers and
daughters compared with mothers and daughters or even between father and sons
(Hutchinson, 2002; Hutchinson and Cooney, 1998) as well as Lehr et al. (2000) found that
female adolescents, compared with their male counterparts rated levels of openness with
their father lower, potentially inhibiting father-daughter sexual communication. Similarly,
Hutchinson and Cooney (1998) discovered similar results in their study of 173 young
women. They found that father-teen communication about sex was particularly low. Only
20.9% of their fathers had given their daughters some information in sexuality and less than
one quarter of the fathers had ever provided any information on topics like STD, HIV
infection and condoms. But this doesn’t mean that fathers do not play an important role in
the sexual socialization of their daughters. Rather the fathers role maybe qualitatively
distinct from that of the mother (Bowling and Werner-Wilson, 2000; Bronte-Tinket, Moore
& Carrano, 2006; Dittus et al. 1997; Hutchinson, 2002; Hutchinson et al., 2003).
Although father-daughter communication has been found to occur less frequently
than sexual risk communication between mothers and daughters, perceptions of parental
attitudes may themselves exert significant influence on adolescents sexual risk attitudes
and behaviors. Miller et al. (1998) found that fathers play an important, although a less
direct, role in helping their daughter make decisions about engaging in sexual behaviors.
Bowling and Werner-Wilson (2000) found that responsible sexual behavior among
adolescent females was associated with positive daughter communication regarding men,
dating, sex and marriage. However, positive communication might be limited by the level of
openness between fathers and daughters.
Whereas connectedness between fathers and daughters has been linked to delays in
sexual debut (Regenerus and Luchies, 2006) and a less frequent engagement in sexual
intercourse (Rink, Tricker and Harvey, 2007). Also the quality of the father-daughter
relationship has been associated with adolescent risk behaviors and an increased
communication between fathers and daughters has been associated with an increased
relationship satisfaction, which has in turn, been linked to less rebellion against family rules
( Punyanunt-Carter, 2008).
 Thus, it has been concluded that parents do in fact have the ability to influence their
childrens decisions if they keep the communication line open and talk about the issues
regularly with their children (Aspy, Vesely, Oman, Rodine, Marshall & McLeroy, 2007).

Statement of the Problem

The objective of this phenomenological study is to know the following queries:
Questions:
1) How many students out of the 50 were talking about reproductive health with their mother?
How about with their father?
2) If their answer is mother or father, what is the reason why they chose to talk with their
chosen parent?
3) Who initiated the conversation?
4) What is most common topic being discussed under the reproductive health?
5) What is the common emotion do they feel during the conversation?
6) What is the most common situation they encounter during the conversation?
 Chapter 2
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
This chapter includes the discussion of the research design, locale and population, data
gathering tool, the data gathering procedure, and the treatment used in the study.

Design of the Study

The research study used descriptive method because it is focused in the present
situation. This study utilized descriptive survey type of study because the researcher wants to
know the level of causes and factors affecting the communication of a daughter and her
parents regarding the topic of reproductive health.
Descriptive - evaluative approach was also applied because the study is important and
beneficial to parents and students when significant implications and recommendations can be
found.
Locale and Population of the Study
This study will be based on the female students of College of Teacher Education in
Benguet State University. The students who will be the respondents of this study are selected
randomly based on their age bracket which is from 18-20. So the total population of the
respondents is 50.
Data Gathering Procedure
In acquiring the needed data for this study, the following procedures were done:
First, the student formulated the questionnaire by reading, researching and seeking
information related to the study. After formulating the questionnaire, the student encoded and
printed according to the number of the target respondents of this study. The researcher had to
personally administer the questionnaire in order to explain to the respondents the proper
accomplishment of the questionnaire.
The first part of the questionnaire was a letter to the respondents followed by queries
on the following topics; 1) How many students out of the 50 were talking about reproductive
health with their mother? How about with their father? 2) If their answer is mother or father,
what is the reason why they chose to talk with their chosen parent? 3) Who initiated the
conversation? 4) What is most common topic being discussed under the reproductive health?
5) What is the common emotion do they feel during the conversation? 6) What is the most
common situation they encounter during the conversation?
TREATMENT OF DATA
The data collected from the set of questionnaire were classified, tabulated, tallied, analysed
and interpreted. General descriptive measure was used in the treatment of data gathered.
 A general scale of number was used in interpreting the data. Specific number was the
basis for the treatment of the data and for interpreting it. Below is the numerical equivalent to
be used to interpret the data.
Mother Father Both Me No.
1. To whom do you talk about reproductive 48 2
health?
2. I. If your answer is mother, why?
a. Comfortable 39
b. Can relate to mother/ father?
29
c. She is a soft talker?
d. She is more knowledgeable about the topic 14
e. She is more concern
f. Mother is strict 26
23
4
II. If your answer is father, why?
a. Comfortable
b. I am closer to my father 2
c. We doesn’t have too long conversation 1
d. Mother is sometimes nagging 1
e. He is more knowledgeable about this topic
f. He initiated to talk about it

III. If your answer is both of your parents, why?

a. Comfortable 2
b. I am closer to them
c. We doesn’t have too long conversation
d. They are both concern 2
e. They initiated to talk about it

3. Who initiated the topic? 22 2 26

4. What topics of reproductive health do you
discuss? 34 2
a. Involvement of romantic relationship 4 1
b. Sexual intercourse 34 1
c. Pubertal change 26 1
d. Awareness of disease
5. What do you feel during the conversation?
a. Relaxed/ comfortable 29 2
b. Enjoying 8 1
c. Nervous 4
d. Intimidated 4
 e. Uncomfortable 5
f. Awkward 20
6. Situations: Yes No
a. Does she/ he warned you not having 30 20
boyfriend while studying?

b. Does she/ he tell you not to be sexually 36 14

involved yet?
c. Does she/ he talk to you explicitly during 21 29
the conversation?
d. Does she/ he talk to you about her/ his
experience/s? 29 21
e. Does she/ he talk to you about her/ his
moral values and lesson learned in life? 36 14
f. Does she/ he talk to you with so much
emotion?
g. Does she/ he talk straightforwardly? 30 20

35 15
 Chapter 3
RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS
This chapter presents, analyses and interprets the data gathered to shed light on the following
topic; 1) How many students out of the 50 were talking about reproductive health with their
mother? How about with their father? 2) If their answer is mother or father, what is the reason
why they chose to talk with their chosen parent? 3) Who initiated the conversation? 4) What is
most common topic being discussed under the reproductive health? 5) What is the common
emotion do they feel during the conversation? 6) What is the most common situation they
encounter during the conversation?
Frequency Rate of the Parent Whom the Respondent Talk to about Reproductive Health and
the Reason Why They Talk about It
Table 1 item number 1 and 2 shows the perspective of the respondents on who
is the most common parent whom they talk to regarding reproductive health. We examined the
reports of the female CTE students of Benguet State University to whether to whom among their
parents do they discuss their reproductive health. The percentage of the respondents who talked about
it with their mothers only is 96%. The remaining 4% was those respondents who talked about it with
both of their parents. For those respondents who talked about it with their mothers only, 78% were
because they feel more comfortable, 59% were because they can relate to their mother, 52% is because
their mothers were more knowledgeable about this topic, 46% were because their mothers were more
concern, 30% because their mother initiated to talked about it and 8 % of the respondents who talked
about it with their mothers said that it is because their father is strict. For the 2 respondents who talked
about it both of their parents, both of them answered it is because they were comfortable with both of
them and both of them were more concern about this topic.

Mother Father Both Me

1. To whom do you talk about reproductive 48 2
health?
2. I. If your answer is mother, why?
g. Comfortable 39
h. Can relate to mother/ father? 29
i. She is a soft talker? 14
j. She is more knowledgeable about the topic 26
k. She is more concern 23
l. Mother is strict 4
II. If your answer is father, why?
g. Comfortable
h. I am closer to my father
i. We doesn’t have too long conversation
 j. Mother is sometimes nagging
k. He is more knowledgeable about this topic
l. He initiated to talk about it

III. If your answer is both of your parents, why?

f. Comfortable 2
g. I am closer to them
h. We doesn’t have too long conversation
i. They are both concern 2
j. They initiated to talk about it

The study aims to determine to whom among their parents female adolescent’s talks about
their reproductive health. The majority of the female adolescents hadn’t had a talk with their fathers
about this topic. They are more likely to discuss it with their mothers because they were more
comfortable in discussing it with them, their mothers are more knowledgeable about these topic and
they are more concern than to their fathers. Maura(2005) stated that adolescents are more likely to be
comfortable when talking about this topic to their mother because they are more concern and they are
more knowledgeable about this topic. This is consistent with the findings of to Raffaelli and
Bogenschneider(2008) in Parent-Teen Communication about Sexual Topics that there are higher
proportions of female adolescents reported that they had talked about reproductive health with their
mothers than to their fathers because they are more comfortable in discussing with their mother.
Another study which is in line with the said results was according to Raffaelli and Bogenschneider(2008),
higher proportions of female adolescents reported that they had talked about sex with their mothers
than to their fathers. And from the data gathered, this suggests that mothers are more responsible for
sex education at home to help them face important decisions about relationships, sexuality. And sexual
behavior. The decisions they make can make an impact in their health and well-being for the rest of
their lives.

Frequency Rate of Who Initiated the talk about Reproductive Health

Table 1 item number 3 shows the perspective of students on who initiated the talk about the
topic. The table shows that the respondent is the most common who initiated the talk regarding
reproductive health with a total of 26 while the second who initiated it is the mother with a total of 22.

Mother Father Both Me

3. Who initiated the topic? 22 2 26
Study after study shows that teenagers want more information about sex than they are getting. When
asked how they would choose to learn about sex, nine out of ten say from their parents-yes, their
parents-not from their friends or a health class or books, this is according to Laurence Steinberg Ph.D of
Psychology today.

Frequency Rate on the Topics Being Discussed on Reproductive Health

Table 1 item number 4 shows the perspective of the respondents on what topics are commonly
discussed during their talk about reproductive health with their specific parent. Based on the data
gathered, the researchers have found that there were 68% of the respondents’ population have
responded involvement of intimate relationship or dating and pubertal change as the mainly discussed
topics followed by the awareness of diseases with a percentage of 52% while sexual intercourse have
been found to be less likely discussed by their mothers as responded by only 12% of the respondents.

On the other hand, there were 4% of the respondents discuss involvement of intimate relationship,
while the topics that includes sexual intercourse, pubertal change and awareness of diseases have the
same percentage of 2% as being discussed with their father.

4. What topics of reproductive health do you Mother Father Both Me

discuss?
a. Involvement of romantic relationship 34 2
b. Sexual intercourse 4 1
c. Pubertal change 34 1
d. Awareness of disease 26 1
In the present study, the number of topics mothers and their children report discussing depend
on what topics are listed in the questionnaires. It was found that intimate relationship and pubertal
changes are the topics mostly discussed by parents and children. Also, awareness of diseases is more
likely discussed. According to Dilorio et al., female participants were most likely to discuss the following
issues with their mothers: menstrual cycle, STD/AIDS, dating and sex behaviour, pregnancy and birth
control. Whereas girls tend to report more frequent communication with their mothers about sexual
topics including the specific topics of abstinence, safe sex and condoms (Fisher,1987;Rafaelli et
al.,1998;Dilorio et al.,1999;Feldman and Rosenthal,2000;Leftkowitz et al.,2002).Also, Fox and Inazu
found that menstruation and contraception are among the first sex related topics mothers discuss with
their daughters; other topics discussed between mothers and daughters include dating and boyfriends,
sexual morality, conception and sexual intercourse. Moreover, in the study of Dilorio et al. (1999) they
have found out that the topics female adolescents were most likely to report discussing with their
mother, father or friends were menstrual cycle, dating and sex behaviour, STDs, not having sex at all and
sex intercourse. On the other hand, sexual intercourse is less likely discussed by parents and children.
This finding supports speculations by Jaccard and Dittus (1991) that, for sample of 12 to 16 years old,
about 15% to 25% of the parents had not discussed sex with their teens.

Frequency Rate on the Common Emotion the Respondents Feel during the Conversation

The table shows the perspective of female respondents of the College of Teacher Education of
Benguet State University regarding on what they feel during conversation about reproductive health
with their mother. As seen in the table on item number 5, the most common emotion that the
respondents feel during the conversation is relaxed or comfortable with a total number of 29. This
means that the most influential emotion during a mother-and-daughter conversation about
reproductive health is being relaxed and comfortable.

On the contrary, the second most common emotion during the conversation is awkward with a
total number of 20 respondents. This means that aside from being relaxed and comfortable during the
conversation, some of the respondents also feel awkward towards their mother in terms of the topic
stated.
 Table 1 item number 5

5. What do you feel during the conversation? Mother Father Both Me No.
g. Relaxed/ comfortable 29 2
h. Enjoying 8 1
i. Nervous 4
j. Intimidated 4
k. Uncomfortable 5
l. Awkward 20

Studies reveal that most adolescents who talk with their mother about reproductive health feel
more comfortable than talking it with their father. Children who have been talked to by their mothers
reported greater comfort talking about sex compared to their father (O’Sullivan, Dolezal, Brackis-Cott,
Traeger, & Mellins, 2005).

However, according to Family Circle Magazine and the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family
Health, half of all adolescent feel awkward talking to their parents about sex. A new nationwide survey
released today shows that most parents and teens talk about sex; teens are less comfortable than their
parents having these conversations; and parents need to talk more about how their teens can prevent
pregnancy and STDs. The survey, which is one of the first to question a large number of parents and
teens from the same households, was commissioned by Planned Parenthood, Family Circle magazine
and the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH) at New York University.

Frequency Rate on the Situations the Respondents Encounter during the Conversation

Table 1 item number 6 shows the different situations that the respondents encounter
during their conversation with their parents. Based on the data gathered, out of 50 respondents, 36
(72%) answered yes on the question. “Does she tell you not to be sexually involved yet?” and “Does she
talk with her moral values and lesson learned in life?” on the mother-daughter conversations about the
reproductive health topics. Followed by 35 (70%), talking straightforward with regards to the sexuality
topics. Next with 60% are the talking with emotion and warned their daughters not to have a boyfriend
while studying; talking about mother’s experiences with 58%; and only 42% talks explicitly during the
discussion. While, 4% of the respondents who answered both of the mother and father still answered no
to all situations in the cases with the father-daughter conversations.

6. Situations: Yes No
h. Does she/ he warned you not having 30 20
boyfriend while studying?

i. Does she/ he tell you not to be sexually 36 14

involved yet?
 j. Does she/ he talk to you explicitly during 21 29
the conversation?
k. Does she/ he talk to you about her/ his
experience/s? 29 21
l. Does she/ he talk to you about her/ his
moral values and lesson learned in life? 36 14
m. Does she/ he talk to you with so much
emotion?
n. Does she/ he talk straightforwardly? 30 20

35 15

On the way a mother talks about their daughter about reproductive health, telling them not to
be sexually involved yet and talking with her moral values and lesson learned in life are the mainly
discussed. According to Baku, E. et al (2018), mothers discuss sexuality issues with adolescents to
prevent them from premarital sex, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections since that may
resulted to emotional reactions such as jealousy, embarrassment, insecurity, heartbreak and there can
be social consequences such as damage to reputation, unkind rumors and loss of friends. A explained by
Samson, J. and De Jesus, G. (2018), parents share values and pragmatic wherein they high regard for
deeply embedded cultural values such as respect, indebtedness and shame that allows their daughter’s
perspective to be influenced in order to avoid early sexual activity.

Answering the question in a straightforward manner helps the child to be satisfied with just a
little information at a time about puberty and other sexual topics. That way, the child learns to use
them in a direct manner, without embarrassment. Parents can help foster healthy feelings about sex if
they answer kids' questions in an age-appropriate way. (Dowshen, S. 2014).

According to Kim, S. (2018), parents who talk openly about sex to their teens may be more
responsible in their sexual behaviors and the more a parent can give guidance, the better prepared a
child will be to make responsible decisions.

Parents are more likely to set restrictions for girls, heightened especially in adolescence when
they reach sexual maturity (Tan et al. 2001; Medina 2001; Liwag et al. 1998). Social and romantic
relationships with the opposite sex are constrained, social activities outside the home are restricted, and
the young woman’s behavior, demeanor, and overall appearance must be modest. Especially for families
in the middle and upper socioeconomic class, meeting familial obligations and expectations also
translates to school achievement. Parents expend much effort and sacrifice to provide for their
children’s education and most have a genuine desire and goal to help their families and are averse to
disappointing their parents.

Mothers, naturally, have many fears and concerns for the overall health and welfare of their
children. Some parents expressed that it is difficult to have conversations on reproductive health with
their children because they are afraid that discussion might make sexual activities seem attractive. Some
parents explained that they didn’t confer with their children about STIs including HIV/AIDS, early
pregnancy, and use of condoms because they thought that their children learned everything through
advanced science and technology. Some parents feel their children are not yet mature to understand
sexual and reproductive health (Noe, M. 2018).

Maternal communications about sex and sexuality, compared with communications about other
topics, are indirect, involve more dominance and unilateral power assertion, less mutuality and turn-
taking, and lower levels of comfort, whereas adolescent communications involve more contempt, less
honesty, and more avoidance (Somers & Eaves, 2002). Communication between parents and their
children is vital for adolescent well-being and reduction of sexual risk-taking behaviors. Most teens want
their parents to talk to them, but unfortunately communication around issues of sexuality can be
uncomfortable for many parents.

Chapter 4
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the conclusions drawn and the recommendations advanced.
Conclusions
The following conclusions were drawn based on the collated findings:
1. The female CTE students of Benguet State University discuss their reproductive health usually
with their mothers than to their fathers.
2. They discuss it usually with their mothers because they are more comfortable with them.
3. The female CTE students of Benguet State University are the ones who initiated to discuss the
topic.
4. The topics of reproductive health they usually discuss is about their involvement in romantic
relationships and the awareness of diseases.
5. The female CTE students of Benguet State University usually feel relaxed or comfortable during
the discussion.
6. Mothers usually talk about their adolescents not be sexually involved and about their moral
values and lessons learned in life.

Recommendations
Based on the foregoing findings and conclusions, the following recommendations were
forwarded:
1. The parents, specifically the parents of these respondents should find a way and make time
in which they can talk to their children about their reproductive health without feeling of
awkwardness and embarrassment.
2. The respondents, which is the teens should be open to their parents in order for them to
share what they think about their reproductive health in order for their parents to know
what they can say and help to their children.
3. The parent and child should have a more bonding to strengthen their bond and for them to
be closer and open in things like reproductive health.
4. The parent and child should enhance their communication with each other for them to
express what they feel comfortably.