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IntroductionThe WHO Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) among 13-15 year olds, determined that in the Caribbean region approximately 20% of girls and 40% of boys reported to have been sexually active (1). The Caribbean GSHS reported that 56% of girls and 79% of boys on average had early debut of sex before aged 14. The Caribbean adolescents, who were sexually active, also reported high risk behaviours such as multiple partners and no condom use. Interventions aimed at reducing the risks of STIs and pregnancies among adolescents in the Caribbean need to focus prevention strategies on the factors that affect sexual risk-taking behaviours.Multiple factors combine together to affect the health of individuals and communities. These influencing factors, which could include both social and behavioral factors, are important determinants of health outcomes in a number of medical conditions. Studies investigating the distribution of these health factors among populations are essential in public health to understand the overall health of a population and where certain preventive efforts can be directed to improve health. Sexual behavior is a particularly important determinant of health in youth populations. In addition, the correlation between sexual health outcomes and the individuals' levels of education, or socio-economic status is well documented (2-5). Sexual activity can be linked to disease risk, increased risk of maternal and infant mortality, population growth, education of women, poverty cycles and other indicators of population health (6). The Caribbean has the second highest prevalence of HIV globally (7, 8). The epidemic in the Caribbean is characterized by significantly higher rates being observed among individuals with high sexual risk-taking behaviours (7). Adequately responding to this epidemic requires research and prevention strategies that addresses the factors that affect sexual risk-taking behaviours.A number of studies have associated sexual behavior in youth with the structure and characteristics of the family unit (9-11). These studies contribute to the growing evidence that family characteristics can influence individual sexual risk-taking behaviours (12, 13). Findings from studies have also related the number of parents in the household with the child's age at sexual initiation (9, 10, 14). There is a wealth of information that exists regarding single versus multi-parental influence on the sexual activity of young adults (9, 15-18). However, there is a scarcity of research to examine the association with sexual risk-taking in adolescents, the early sexual initiation and the family structure.This paper examines existing data on the prevalence of sexual behaviors under three broad categories: how parents influence the likelihood of youth having sex, how parents influence the age of sexual initiation among youth, and finally, how parents influence the use of birth control among adolescents.Parents play a significant role in the decision made by children in whether or not they engage in sexual activity. Multiple studies suggest that teenagers who live with one parent are more likely to have had early sex debut than those who live with two parents (17, 19, 20). In a study by Young et al. (15), which controlled for the variables gender, age and race, the researchers proposed that the greater likelihood of youth in single-parent families having sex may be due to non-marital sexual activity being more commonly present among single parents. In addition, adolescents with both parents have two adults available to advise them on emotional and personal issues for example, as it relates to sex (17). This problem is not isolated to a particular culture or locality, but globally affects adolescents. Oman et al. (20), surveyed families living in inner-city areas of the United States and found similar results where 70% of teenagers living with two parents had never had sex, while only 55% of teenagers living with one parent had never had sex. …