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Memorable messages, or messages people recall for a long period of time and identify as influential in identity development or behavioral assessment, provide a framework to address both adolescent advice and development and to identify areas that were absent from pivotal conversations like "the talk." In this qualitative survey study, we asked lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) women to design the messages they wish their parents had provided about intimate health in their adolescence in light of the messages that they did receive. Findings suggest that ideal messages from parents would include a tone of positivity and affirmation, validation of diverse sexual and gender identities, and practical information about navigating changing bodies, sexual and reproductive health and contraception, as well as information about consent and negotiating sexual relationships. Although fewer, some participants believed these conversations are better suited for education systems and teachers than parents.

Building from a panel at the 2022 National Communication Association (NCA) annual convention, the present article seeks to ground communication studies/sciences as central to interdisciplinary conversations surrounding sexuality education and communication. Communication is integral to sexuality education, and topics of communication, sex, and sexuality education are researched across disciplines. Still, research on sexuality education within communication studies remains under-attended, and interdisciplinary sexuality education research remains siloed by academic discipline. Presenting a forum featuring both emerging and leading scholars in the field of communication researching sex(uality) education, the present article seeks to establish the academic discipline of communication as integral to research on sexuality education. To do so, we first discuss communication as an academic discipline and its advancements in sexuality education research. Next, communication scholars offer their expertise in sex(uality education) communication topics including family conversations, cultural influence, health inequities in education, and medicine. Collectively, these perspectives offer an understanding of current sexual health research in the field of communication, as well as next steps through direct application to conversations about sex, improvement to our medical and education systems, and community-based education and intervention. It is our hope that this article fosters a larger conversation about the importance of communication (studies/sciences) in sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early messages about reproductive and sexual health influence personal identities, health behaviors, and ongoing perceptions of sex and sexuality. Women are often socialized with negatively-valenced messages toward understanding their reproductive and sexual health. However, scholarship emphasizes a communicative approach for socializing intimate health behaviors and needs. The present study addresses the communication that prompts a shift in perception from early, harmful memorable messages to a more comprehensive perspective on sexuality. To do so, we qualitatively analyze open-ended survey responses from 191 women. Findings reinforce previous memorable message literature by revealing messages of shame, sex, abortion, childbearing, and fears of infertility. In addition, we extend the memorable messages construct by exploring how more positively valenced messages and individual moments of intervention redirect women in how they understand their intimate health and sexuality.

Abortion is a politicized and stigmatized health procedure that has received considerable attention in popular discourse in the past year. The present study investigated how often people (N = 235) talk about abortion throughout their lifespan and within the past 12 months, with whom they have these conversations, and which conversations were most memorable. Key findings from the present study, framed through the Theory of Memorable Messages and the Social Ecological Model, include that most participants had at least one conversation about abortion in the past 12 months. Within the past 12 months, the most common conversation partners for abortion-related communication were friends, followed by mothers and romantic partners. Over the lifespan, but prior to the past 12 months, a majority of participants had at least one conversation about abortion. Similarly, friends were the most frequent source of abortion-related communication over the lifespan, followed by mothers and romantic partners. Many of the conversations within the past 12 months focused heavily on the overturn of Roe v. Wade or navigating a post-Roe world with a body that could become pregnant, or as someone who cared about people who could become pregnant. Prior to the past 12 months, participants characterized abortion communication as tense, religious, pro-choice, descriptive of the women who might have abortions, relating to specific abortion disclosures, or political. Within the past 12 months, memorable conversations about abortion were personal or relational, and were often prompted by discussions surrounding Roe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five years ago, we reviewed the state of memorable message scholarship in communication, with special attention to the utility of memorable message research in health communication. Since then, works advancing the theoretical and practical applicability of the construct have continued to emerge. In this article, we discuss the trends in published memorable message research over the last five years. Since 2017, thirty-four additional peer-reviewed articles focusing on memorable messages as a central concept have been published. Health communication as a subset of the field (as well as the journal Health Communication) see a higher concentration of these publications than other areas. In this review, we concentrate on the use of theory within recent memorable message work. Although much of the memorable message research continues to be atheoretical, more work utilizing control theory, the theory of memorable messages, and communicated narrative sense-making characterize the recent literature. Additionally, more research has emerged that highlights the theoretically driven investigations about the nature of memorable messages. We review the scholarship utilizing these and other theories and suggest avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, women's use of contraception has evolved. Women not only utilize contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, but also to manage menstruation and other factors related to their personal agency. Despite an abundance of available contraceptive options, many women struggle to navigate and address their contraceptive needs. A hundred and thirty-four female participants responded to an open-ended questionnaire about contraceptive messages and decision making in an online survey. Using Uncertainty Management Theory as a framework, we illustrate how the women make sense of and manage uncertainty from multiple contraceptive messages. Results highlighted the absence of desired information, and identified messages that women wish they had received from healthcare providers and others. Our findings suggest that women's understanding of contraceptives' side effects is a communicative process in which anecdotal evidence is often treated as medical fact and healthcare providers are viewed as ineffective and dismissive in relaying and addressing information about contraception. In the absence of satisfying healthcare interactions, women seek information elsewhere to make their contraceptive choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family is an important site of information, communication, and advocacy regarding sexual and reproductive health behaviors, particularly for individuals assigned female at birth (Byers, 2011). For Latina women, the health messages received from family members may be especially meaningful. This essay explores tri- and multi-generational family communication among Latina women, centering on the communication that transpires among different female generations regarding reproductive and sexual health topics. We call attention to the importance of further exploring if and how transparency, honesty, and non-judgment conversations can provide a culture of mutual respect and openness among women within the Latinx community as they attempt to negotiate their sexual behavior. We call on family communication scholars, especially those of Latinx descent, to consider how their work can contribute to setting an agenda for this important culture and topic, and we recommend specific research areas to investigate sexual and reproductive health communication in Latinx families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a privilege and honor to welcome you to this special issue of Health Communication which is based on scholarship that advances various divergent health issues pertinent to African American, Latino/a/x, and American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) peoples. The vision for this special issue which is a microcosm of the impactful research literature emerging from our field by Black, Latino/a/x, and American Indian peoples was to call attention to and acknowledge the breath of theoretically grounded and methodologically appropriate research in health communication. The 16 original articles featured in this issue reflect a robust compilation of topics from medical mistrust to tribal and elder leaders as health communicators and health promoters. The vision for the issue is that these articles serve as a platform that starts a meaningful and needed dialog within the field of health communication about the need for accessible and diverse scholarship from often-absent voices and/or narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Menstruation is a salient, and sometimes scary, communication topic for young women. The present study reports on the early communication experiences about menstruation from 165 women using open-ended survey data. Through the framework of supportive communication, findings reveal that a discrepancy occurs between the health and practical information and needs to which young people who menstruate desire access, and their social and emotional needs. The present study indicates an inadequacy of both aspects of menstruation communication from important others in childhood and adolescence. Themes of boundary management, impersonal, silence, and accidents also characterize early communication experiences about menstruation. Our participants identified a desire for conversations that normalize menstruation as typical and acceptable, validate period pain and prescribe management tactics, and describe the existence of feminine hygiene products other than pads and tampons. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory qualitative content analysis examined young adult familial memorable message narratives regarding sex that were described as most influential on sexual activity. More specifically, the study explores the descriptions from 101 participants who were attending college on one of three diverse campuses. From the texts provided, the source, message, frame, and communication type of each memorable message narrative was analyzed. Then, through established thematization processes, five major themes emerged that contributed to the perception of sexual practices and behaviors: (1) practice safe sex; (2) premarital sex as wrong; (3) Wait until you are ready/for the right person; (4) Sex as natural and/or pleasurable; and (5) Sex as negative, abusive and/or taboo. Following an explication of how these memorable message narratives work individually, and collectively, to influence adolescent sexual behavior, directions for future research and implications for practice are provided., For many, sexual activity starts in early adulthood (Goins, Garcia, & Barger, J., 2013; Mosher, Chandra & Jones, 2005). It is widely acknowledged that memorable experiences about sex shape and [...]

Knapp, Stohl, and Reardon’s (1981) seminal work reported that some messages may be “remembered for a long time and have a profound influence on a person’s life” (p. 27). While the foundational concepts of this framework have offered a meaningful contribution to memorable messages research, this article seeks to unpack the past three decades of the literature specific to the field of communication. The authors will highlight the trajectory and changes while considering its present use, episodes, and situations that transpire in individual lived experiences. Like Braithwaite, Schrodt, and Carr (2015), we note that memorable messages, though widely utilized, are largely descriptive and atheoretical or “undertheorized” (p. 15). To that end, and given its decades of successful use in health communication, organizational socialization, and education, we consider the value of a Theory of Memorable Messages (ToMM) that can support new directions for communication scholarship and serve as a catalyst for understanding dynamic relational interactions and exchanges in human communication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) women exist as a population with an increased complexity in the relationship between themselves and their sexuality. For the LGBTQ community, sexual behaviors are often silenced or erased. This exploratory qualitative research examines 186 memorable messages that emerged from 91 LGBTQ women and gender minorities who participated in a national study. Each participant was asked to share memorable messages they received about sex, sexuality, and sexual health. Consistent with past research, "advice" was a common memorable messages form; however, negative attributes and media-derived messages emerged. The results contribute to understanding the messages that LGTBQ individuals confront on topics of sex and sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]