New Brunswick youth have high incidence of sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancy, sexual violations, and dating violence suggestive of high-risk sexual behaviors and a lack of knowledge regarding sexual consent, personal safety, and understanding of healthy relationship characteristics. Positive sexual health communication between parents and their children is an important determine of the development of healthy sexuality and sexual behaviors; however, parental communication about sex is often lacking for a variety of reasons including limited sexual health education knowledge, discomfort discussing sex, and demographic factors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the current sexual health education practices and needs of New Brunswick (NB) parents, stepparents, and guardians. We administered online and paper surveys to over 5400 English and French respondents around NB. The result of the study revealed that NB parents, stepparents, and guardians report high levels of knowledge and comfort discussing sexual health with their children. However, there is opportunity to improve on the existing resources. To this end five recommendations are made: (1) collaborate with school districts and health authorities, (2) share information on age-appropriate topics, (3) develop an online dissemination strategy with supplementary online materials, (4) co-develop materials between Horizon and Vitalité Health Networks, and (5) target resources to the needs of specific demographic groups. This information will be used to inform the development and/or adaptation of resources to support parents in their role of primary sexual health educators of their children.

1. ASK ME ANYTHING:
A NEW BRUNSWICK SEXUAL
HEALTH EDUCATION SURVEY
Knowledge Transfer Session | June 30, 2021
Nancy Gesner & Samantha Fowler

2. NEW BRUNSWICK YOUTH
• Have high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy
• Account for the majority (66%) of sexual violations reported to police
• 12% of boys and 18% of girls grades 6-12 report being exposed to dating violence
June 30, 2021

3. PARENTAL COMMUNICATION
• Considerable variation in the context and scope of sexual health education received
among individuals, schools, and communities in the province
• Parents should not rely on school based programs for their children’s sexual
health education
• Positive sexual health communication between parents and children is an important
predictor of healthy sexuality and sexual behavior in adolescence
• Parental communication about sex often consists of parents waiting for children to
ask questions, providing brief answers, and shutting down future conversations
June 30, 2021

4. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
• Several parent-based barriers to communication about sexual heath have been
identified in the literature, including:
• Limited sexual health education knowledge
• Discomfort discussing sex
• Research studies have demonstrated promising effects of interventions to alleviate
these barriers thereby increasing the quantity and quality of sexual health
communications
June 30, 2021

5. NEED FOR RESOURCES
• According to community stakeholders in NB there is a lack of available resources to
support families, parents, and other caregivers in their role as primary sexual health
educators
• Sexual health education in communities was identified in Horizon’s Top 20 Regional
Priorities
June 30, 2021

6. THE PRESENT STUDY
• Investigate the sexual health education needs of parents, step parents, and
guardians in New Brunswick
• Inform the development and/or adaptation of resources to support parents in their
role as primary sexual health educator of their children
June 30, 2021

7. PARTICIPANTS
• 5 462 New Brunswick parents, step parents, and guardians
• 77% English
• 89% Women
• 94% Heterosexual
June 30, 2021
• 95% Born in Canada
• 92% European or North American Other
• Mean age = 39.0 years (SD = 7.3)

8. PARTICIPANTS
• Mean number of children = 1.9 (SD = 0.9)
• Mean number of males = 1.0 (SD = 0.9)
• Mean number of females = 1.0 (SD = 0.8)
• 17.7% had children with diverse learning needs
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (8.0%)
• Learning Disability (7.2%)
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (5.4%)
June 30, 2021

9. MATERIALS & PROCEDURE
• Participants were recruited through regional health authorities, school districts, and
many other community partners between December 2019 and March 2020
• Completed an online or paper based survey assessing:
1. Demographic characteristics
2. Current sexual health education practices
3. Sexual health education needs
June 30, 2021

10. RESPONSIBILITY
• The majority of participants (94.9%) believed that parents and guardians are
primarily responsible for sexual health education
• But felt that this responsibility is shared with other parties, most notably teachers
(74.8%) and healthcare providers (58.7%)
June 30, 2021

11. KNOWLEDGE
“I have enough knowledge to discuss sexual health with my children”
June 30, 2021
67
164
402
2494
2284
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neither
Agree Nor
Disagree
Agree Strongly
Agree
M = 4.3
SD = 0.8

12. 59
240
526
2476
2099
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neither
Agree Nor
Disagree
Agree Strongly
Agree
COMFORT
“I am comfortable discussing sexual health with my children”
June 30, 2021
M = 4.2
SD = 0.9

13. 916
582
1895
1370
467
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Not At All Once or
Twice
A Few
Times
Quite Often Very Often
FREQUENCY
“How often have you talked to your children about sexual health?”
June 30, 2021

14. 87
481
2382
1716
278
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neither
Agree Nor
Disagree
Agree Strongly
Agree
SATISFACTION WITH EXISTING RESOURCES
“The available sexual health resources meet my child’s needs.”
June 30, 2021
M = 3.3
SD = 0.8

15. SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL EDUCATION
“The sexual health education offered in schools meets my child’s needs.”
June 30, 2021
249
712
1772
1174
227
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neither
Agree Nor
Disagree
Agree Strongly
Agree
M = 3.1
SD = 1.0

16. NEED FOR RESOURCES
“Do you need more
resources to talk to your
children about sexual
health?”
June 30, 2021
3106
1852
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
No Yes

17. 239
1584
0
500
1000
1500
2000
No Yes
NEED FOR RESOURCES TO SUPPORT SCHOOLS
“Do you need more
resources to support the
sexual health education
happening in schools?”
June 30, 2021

18. 438
1385
0
500
1000
1500
2000
No Yes
NEED FOR AGE APPROPRIATE RESOURCES
“Do you need resources
to help you to better
understand what age
appropriate sexual
health topics you could
discuss with your
children or youth?”
June 30, 2021

19. PAPER RESOURCES
• Most participants (93.1%) indicated they would like paper-based resources,
including:
• Brochures (81.9%)
• Books (77.5%)
• Magazines (55.0%)
• They would like to find these resources at a variety of places, including:
• Schools (86.3%)
• Healthcare Provider Offices (83.7%)
• Pharmacies (70.2%)
June 30, 2021
• Resources Centres (52.3%)
• Communities Centres (43.7%)

20. ONLINE RESOURCES
• Most participants (90.7%) indicated they would like online resources, including:
• Websites (82.8%)
• Interactive tools (61.2%)
• Videos (54.4%)
• Workshops (51.2%)
• They would like to be made aware of these resources through:
• Schools (92.0%)
• Healthcare Providers (79.0%)
June 30, 2021
• Support groups (46.1%)
• Mobile applications (41.2%)
• Social media content (38.2%)
• Blogs (32.5%)
• Podcasts (27.7%)
• Social Media (64.3%)
• Other Parents (35.4%)

21. IN-PERSON RESOURCES
• Approximately half of respondents (55.2%) indicated they would like in-person
resources:
• Workshops (51.1%)
• Support Group (35.9%)
• Interested individuals expressed a slight preference for weekdays (41.9%) than
weekends (30.9%), and would rather attend in the evening (62.9%) than the morning
(13.4%) or afternoon (14.3%).
• Schools (75.9%) were the most popular location to hold these in-person resources,
followed by healthcare facilities (67.3%), libraries (63.1%), and public places (41.0%)
June 30, 2021

22. TOPICS
The amount of interest varied across topics, ranging from 46.4% for anal sex to
85.6% for personal safety.
June 30, 2021
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

23. DEMOGRAPHIC COMPARISONS
June 30, 2021
Demographic Variable Knowledge Comfort Need for
Resources
Language X  X
Ethnicity  X X
Gender X  
Sexual Orientation   X
Age of Oldest Child X X 
Diverse Learning Needs X X 

24. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Collaborate with schools and healthcare professionals and develop resources to
compliment the sexual health educating happening in schools.
2. Share information on age appropriate topics
3. Primarily an online dissemination strategy with supplementary paper materials
4. Co-develop materials between Horizon and Vitalité Health Networks
5. Target resources to the needs of specific populations.
June 30, 2021

25. CONCLUSION
• NB parents, step-parents, and guardians report high levels of knowledge and
comfort to discuss sexual health with their children
• There is room for improvement through the development and/or adaptation of sexual
health education materials.
June 30, 2021