Asian American youth are often omitted from sexual health research or characterized as a low-risk population, in part due to relatively lower levels of sexual activity. However, there is evidence that female Asian adolescents and young adults who are sexually active may be less likely to use condoms or effective contraception than their peers. Immigrant Asian parents tend to engage in less frequent or more prohibitive parental sex communication compared to non-Asian American parents and non-family sources of sexual messaging. Restrictive parental sexual socialization may contribute to delayed sexual activity in young people, but also to adverse outcomes when they eventually become sexually active. In young Asian American women, limited parental sexual socialization may be associated with lower condom or contraceptive use through three hypothesized mechanisms: lower sexual health literacy, concerns about revealing sexual activity to parents, and diminished sexual self-efficacy.
I propose a mixed-methods dissertation research project utilizing surveys and interviews to study the relationship between sexual socialization and sexual health behaviors including use of condoms, contraception, and preferred contraceptive methods in female Asian American college students raised in the US. Descriptively, this project will shed light on interracial and intra-Asian sexual health disparities, the enduring effects of early sexual socialization into adulthood, and potential improvements to sex education and sexual healthcare for Asian Americans. Conceptually, this project will advocate for a more expansive conception of youth sexual health that accommodates healthy and self-determined sexual activity, and of Asian Americans that recognizes the population’s diversity and unmet needs.