Parents' Understanding of Sex Education in China and Its Connection to Gender Differences: A Narrative Review

In China, school-based sex education remains uneven, and parents therefore occupy a central position in shaping adolescents’ sexual knowledge and attitudes. This narrative review examines the historical development of sex education internationally and in China, synthesizes scholarship on Chinese parents’ attitudes toward sex education, and analyzes how gender norms influence family-based sex education. Methodologically, the paper uses a narrative review and thematic synthesis of the studies cited in this manuscript, with attention to three themes: the historical trajectory of sex education, parental participation, and gender differences in family communication. The review shows that sex education in China has a long but discontinuous history: early advocacy emerged in the early twentieth century, school-based implementation expanded only intermittently, and contemporary practice still falls short of full comprehensive provision. Existing studies further indicate that although many Chinese parents express support for sex education, such support is not consistently translated into regular family communication. This gap is shaped by embarrassment, limited parental knowledge, cultural conservatism, and unfair gender expectations. Girls are more likely to receive guidance from mothers, whereas boys often receive less sustained or comprehensive communication. The review argues that improving parental capacity, strengthening school-family collaboration, and adopting gender-sensitive approaches are necessary to meet adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health needs in China and in other contexts where family norms strongly shape sex education.