Explored in this study were the ways in which mothers and their early adolescent daughters experience their communication with each other about sexuality-related topics; those experiences were compared with daughters' experiences of communication with best friends about similar topics. Twelve early adolescent girls between 11 and 13 years of age participated in separately audio recorded conversations with their mothers and with their best friends about sexuality-related issues. Mothers and daughters were then interviewed separately about their experiences of these conversations. Analysis of these interviews revealed three categories of maternal communicative style and three categories of early adolescent girls `engagement style. The implications of these differing types of communicative and engagement styles for early adolescent girls' development of self-regulation within the domain of sexuality are discussed from a vygotksian perspective.
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