Table 1: Social patterning of comfort talking abut sex with parents at age 13/14

Table 2: Comparison of means for comfort talking to parents at age 13/14, having excluded those who never talked to parents (2 = least comfortable, 6 = most comfortable)

	Male												Female
	Comfort talking to mother about sex						Comfort talking to father about sex						Comfort talking to mother about sex						Comfort talking to father about sex
	v.comf	comf	In betw	uncomf	v. uncomf	never have	v.comf	comf	In betw	uncomf	v. uncomf	never have	v.comf	comf	In betw	uncomf	v. uncomf	never have	v.comf	comf	In betw	uncomf	v. uncomf	never have
Housing type
Council or rented	39	99	113	69	44	109	45	80	104	70	40	121	113	180	193	54	30	44	23	52	114	141	103	163
Privately owned	111	376	557	248	112	221***	103	321	505	290	135	265***	292	577	582	182	83	97	55	153	435	500	316	338 ***
Mother’s age
<40	78	177	229	112	68	114	66	147	210	127	69	180	213	350	303	101	46	60	48	94	248	238	199	231
>39	60	256	341	169	56	147**	68	213	304	184	72	149	204	431	487	140	67	84 **	34	104	316	420	236	280 ***
Mother’s social class
Non-manual	79	305	436	204	91	179	86	245	389	250	101	217	237	497	480	153	61	86	42	125	361	414	261	297
Manual	57	117	183	86	46	87*	44	110	171	85	46	109	135	228	229	78	35	52	33	52	156	196	130	173
Father’s social class
Non-manual	66	258	346	157	75	146	65	219	315	190	89	169	172	363	366	121	43	56	32	99	278	325	180	205
Manual	65	173	245	137	59	145	68	144	242	144	65	159	182	330	319	93	52	72	40	89	229	291	201	196
Mother’s qualifications
Don’t know / none of the above	15	42	63	42	20	77	15	31	80	32	25	71	21	40	63	21	9	24	6	8	39	37	34	53
Left school at age 16 or younger	21	52	72	48	22	48	22	43	60	50	24	57	70	120	132	50	32	38	13	27	82	116	88	104
‘O’ grades	27	70	124	58	29	56	26	70	111	64	26	66	78	133	146	42	20	24	14	39	95	107	83	95
Highers	10	43	55	26	9	37	10	37	50	29	16	38	31	66	58	13	6	6	7	18	45	48	30	30
Attended college	34	86	128	55	28	52	27	75	116	66	29	67	82	148	140	48	18	29	17	34	117	119	76	99
Attended university	3	18	18	16	7	15	4	13	18	13	9	19	11	19	17	5	1	7	1	4	13	15	10	17
Advanced qualification	20	84	97	36	28	30	17	64	88	55	29	38	69	146	116	31	14	20	10	34	103	107	62	78
Degree	31	119	170	74	30	52 ***	35	94	151	89	33	75*	67	154	173	49	23	19 **	15	48	102	150	79	87
Father’s qualifications
Don’t know / none of the above	21	50	93	34	23	73	19	34	76	34	25	90	47	87	111	26	17	32	10	12	42	58	61	120
Left school at age 16 or younger	28	71	89	59	27	64	30	60	95	55	27	71	74	158	146	45	32	37	14	35	87	136	109	111
‘O’ grades	23	60	100	45	28	62	15	61	95	47	29	70	66	114	128	47	11	21	12	35	102	89	70	79
Highers	12	35	51	29	10	22	10	28	53	29	13	27	25	58	46	16	7	5	6	8	42	51	24	24
Attended college	18	65	87	44	22	45	20	52	82	56	24	44	59	99	119	31	14	17	15	36	77	81	56	65
Attended university	6	20	31	20	9	9	7	15	27	24	10	12	14	34	29	9	4	6	6	8	27	26	13	16
Advanced qualification	19	60	69	37	23	24	22	46	70	45	22	27	55	98	80	22	10	15	11	28	88	79	36	36
Degree	34	149	205	85	31	66 **	32	131	175	108	40	85 ***	88	175	181	62	27	33	9	50	131	179	91	106 ***
Ethnicity
Indian subcontinent	1	3	7	7	6	16	2	2	7	9	6	14	3	12	12	7	4	7	1	3	6	5	12	18
White	154	499	703	337	164	337	152	415	649	377	183	402	423	794	807	249	115	159	80	203	579	681	441	528
Other	4	7	13	8	4	13 **	2	5	13	8	5	14*	9	19	25	5	2	4	3	7	11	14	11	17*
Religion
None	78	242	356	176	72	194	74	207	316	181	93	229	184	364	393	108	61	88	36	94	259	328	205	260
Catholic	17	42	52	26	12	24	15	33	53	32	11	28	35	67	52	13	9	8	7	12	41	49	34	37
Protestant	44	118	194	74	54	80	41	108	177	96	50	93	131	221	227	70	34	40	25	69	166	182	121	148
Muslim	11	54	62	36	17	36	11	40	69	39	15	40	41	79	86	31	8	14	6	19	58	73	45	57
Other	5	24	36	22	6	24	7	18	31	28	7	27	24	52	45	23	3	13	6	10	38	39	28	39
Religiosity
Very religious	3	3	6	4	3	7	4	4	7	2	2	7	6	4	7	1	3	1	0	4	5	3	5	5
Religious	12	49	60	31	24	21	14	49	47	41	22	24	56	98	92	22	18	13	9	27	78	69	56	57
Unsure	37	107	152	59	41	81	29	88	153	72	44	87	92	200	237	57	32	49	15	50	142	187	108	159
Not religious	41	169	240	115	37	95	41	133	223	134	38	122	124	300	258	88	30	38	23	69	204	248	128	153
Not at all religious	65	181	267	145	69	164*	65	148	241	148	88	192 **	155	223	248	92	40	70 ***	37	63	167	192	168	189 **
Friends at other schools
None	30	63	119	59	29	78	29	50	111	68	32	84	53	86	104	26	12	33	8	19	74	75	52	81
A few	102	372	492	235	109	232	104	319	452	257	121	277	313	595	607	184	87	103	63	156	426	512	319	384
Half	14	47	71	35	24	32	10	36	64	42	27	40	44	84	83	21	14	12	6	23	60	34	53	50
Most	10	23	34	20	8	20	8	16	36	24	9	21	20	51	47	23	8	16	4	13	37	40	29	38
All	1	3	5	1	1	4	1	2	4	2	1	6	5	3	10	3	1	4*	3	4	1	5	7	6
Friends left school
None	68	218	334	170	84	177	68	190	291	181	94	218	170	324	360	97	53	81	34	74	237	288	185	250
A few	81	276	360	166	73	165	79	221	353	200	82	177	238	471	440	147	55	74	43	133	340	376	240	279
Half	2	6	14	7	7	13	1	5	14	6	6	15	12	12	22	9	8	9	4	2	6	17	23	20
Most / All	4	6	6	5	4	9	3	6	4	6	3	12 **	12	12	20	6	6	4 **	3	5	13	14	14	10 **
Friends smoke †
None	32	89	134	59	31	88	37	93	114	62	29	91	64	120	117	34	20	35	7	32	96	94	71	87
A few	36	95	145	79	31	91	34	86	131	85	37	99	85	176	182	52	23	33	12	51	115	170	100	96
Half	5	13	25	8	7	19	6	14	18	14	6	20	21	31	43	16	8	9	5	11	20	39	23	29
Most	6	16	18	13	10	21	5	12	19	18	8	21	18	48	38	18	12	12	6	9	26	26	42	34
All	3	3	7	4	2	7	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	5	10	4	1	6	1	1	0	7	10	11**
Parents live with
Both parents	130	418	592	287	128	259	130	361	555	331	148	286	306	603	637	191	87	111	54	163	469	571	340	333
Mother only	27	90	118	59	42	75	24	54	95	49	40	128	118	207	191	63	34	44	25	40	111	118	113	215
Father only	4	8	19	10	4	28	3	11	25	18	6	15	10	14	13	5	2	12	4	11	10	14	10	13
Neither parents	1	1	3	1	1	8 ***	1	3	2	2	1	5 ***	2	5	9	3	0	4 **	1	1	9	2	4	5 ***
No. older brothers
0	114	356	510	247	124	238	114	304	465	276	138	279	296	554	532	180	69	102	53	152	411	460	287	350
1	42	122	194	88	40	99	36	105	175	98	46	119	108	218	256	67	39	49	24	50	156	195	140	164
2	6	31	25	16	8	24	7	17	30	20	9	27	24	47	50	15	12	13	4	10	24	42	37	37
3+	0	8	3	6	3	9	1	3	7	6	2	9	8	10	12	0	3	7*	3	3	8	8	3	15*
No. older sisters
0	116	383	502	241	118	244	110	315	473	267	133	292	315	571	545	173	70	100	53	152	403	470	303	370
1	38	97	192	94	45	96	37	94	160	109	46	112	90	212	242	70	43	56	25	50	159	188	134	153
2	7	34	30	19	9	22	7	16	38	22	15	22	28	31	51	13	8	11	5	11	29	35	23	34
3+	1	3	8	3	3	8	4	4	6	2	1	8	3	15	12	6	2	4*	1	2	8	12	7	9
No. younger brothers
0	114	333	497	234	111	248	107	286	449	274	118	288	277	559	571	173	83	104	49	139	405	479	302	365
1	37	143	201	101	54	96	40	115	188	106	65	112	132	209	230	75	29	54	30	60	151	187	134	160
2	9	36	27	21	10	21	11	26	36	17	10	25	23	53	39	12	7	10	4	15	36	34	24	31
3+	2	5	7	1	0	5	0	2	4	3	2	9	4	8	10	2	4	3	1	1	7	5	7	10
No. younger sisters
0	105	329	510	253	120	240	106	265	466	277	135	292	261	566	594	161	89	130	51	140	407	480	308	387
1	50	161	197	92	46	110	46	144	185	106	50	121	134	213	206	88	28	34	22	54	156	187	134	145
2	6	23	22	9	8	17	4	19	23	13	8	18	34	39	40	10	5	4	9	17	26	32	18	29
3+	1	4	3	3	1	3	2	1	3	4	2	3	7	11	10	3	1	3 **	2	4	10	6	7	5
Position in family
Only child	14	42	58	32	12	29	17	33	51	36	12	34	33	68	50	15	7	11	5	14	56	37	23	46
Youngest	60	162	280	132	61	132	57	131	258	149	65	158	136	310	348	90	53	72	22	78	219	281	174	215
Middle	18	94	107	59	36	80	21	76	107	64	41	85	81	144	168	56	29	46	24	28	106	126	111	125
Eldest	70	219	287	134	66	129	63	189	261	151	77	157	186	307	284	101	34	42 **	33	95	218	261	159	180 ***
First born of own sex
Yes	114	356	510	247	124	238	114	304	465	276	138	279	315	571	545	173	70	100	53	152	403	470	303	370
No	48	161	222	110	51	132	44	125	212	124	57	155	121	258	305	89	53	71 **	31	63	196	235	164	196
Gender composition of siblings
Mixed	97	297	416	199	104	235	93	251	382	234	114	264	274	499	537	154	81	118	56	132	351	430	306	366
All same sex	65	220	316	158	71	135	65	178	295	166	81	170	162	330	313	108	42	53	28	83	248	275	161	200

*p<0.05

**p<0.01

***p<0.001

† Proportion of friends who smoke was only asked in cohort 2.