A new research study released by the University of North Carolina has found that teenagers really do listen to their parents when it comes to sex. The research found that parents who discuss sexual situations with their teens will find that their teen sons and daughters are putting off having sex longer and are using protection and birth control when they finally make the decision.

While it certainly is not an easy subject for either parents or teens to broach with one another, the researchers reviewed material presented over the past thirty years and found that there were small yet significant and positive changes when parents and teens engaged, reports UPI. The study recognizes that parents are just one voice in the wilderness of voices that teens hear but a parents voice is one of the few they really end up listening to.

The researchers covered material published over the course of thirty years which contained interviews with 25,314 teenagers with the average age being 15.2 years. The research studied who the teen talked to, the mother or the father, and what was discussed and what actions followed. Teens who actually discussed sex with their parents were ten percent more likely to use protection that those who did not. Also, discussions with parents seemed to have a greater affect on the girls than the boys.

What the researchers also learned was that it was all a matter of presentation. How the subjects were brought up and discussed had a huge affect on the outcome and on future actions. The study found that parents who brought up certain scenarios and had a give and take with their teen were actually far more effective than those parents who simply lectured about it all.

The researchers found that teens tended to be more comfortable talking about sex with their mothers rather than their fathers. The research has additionally found that teenagers who talk with their parents are more likely to be talking about safe and protected safe with their peers rather than just talking about having sex itself.