Parents adopt a multitude of parenting styles, and age-related guidance is everywhere on how to talk to your child on any topic.

A study of more than 1,000 adults by SeniorLiving.org looked at the ages associated with discussing two dozen sensitive topics such as gender identity, racial discrimination, political beliefs, drugs, sex and mass shootings. The survey also addressed how gender plays a role in what parents see as acceptable behavior for their kids.

Fathers took greater issue with their sons playing with dolls and experimenting with makeup than mothers did.

"Across the board, women were more willing to let their child defy gender norms than men," the research said. "While the majority of both genders were OK with allowing their daughters to play with trucks and wear boys' clothes, the most staunch discrepancies surfaced when it came to sons acting feminine."

The study found 81 percent of mothers were OK with their sons playing with dolls, and 61 percent of fathers were, too. But only 36 percent of dads were OK with their sons having painted nails or wearing makeup, compared to 55 percent of women.

Conversely, 96 percent of moms and 90 percent of dads were OK with their daughters playing with trucks, and 78 percent of moms and 70 percent of dads were fine with them wearing boys' clothes.

Parents want to avoid talking about gender topics

Gender-identity and gender-bending topics were ones parents most wanted to avoid.

The highest percentage of parents rated it as a topic they'd rather avoid, followed by sexual orientation. Gender discrimination also made the top five on the list. The study did not address the reasons why.

But it spoke to a level of discomfort parents felt in discussing gender topics whereas parents felt much less vexed about addressing sex, which was at the bottom of the topics-best-avoided list.

Here's a look at the percentage of parents who didn't want to talk to their children about these sensitive topics:

Gender identity: 10 percent

10 percent Sexual orientation: 8 percent

8 percent Divorce: 7 percent

7 percent Political beliefs: 6 percent

6 percent Gender discrimination: 5 percent

5 percent Mass shootings: 5 percent

5 percent Religious discrimination: 5 percent

5 percent Sex: 3 percent

See the complete list here.

Moms want to talk sooner

The survey also compared women and men to see which gender thought it best to wait a little longer before having "the talk" — on whatever topic. Moms preferred to have most sensitive conversations sooner.

Dads, for example, preferred to wait two years longer than moms, until almost age 10, to discuss death with their children. They also thought age 12 was the ideal age to discuss cigarettes, and moms thought it was 10. Moms and dads were in agreement that age 13 was the right age to address unhealthy romantic relationships.

In many cases, non-parents thought having discussions about important topics could wait.

According to this survey, non-parents were more conservative than parents about most conversation topics — from bullying to STDs — responding, for example, the drug talk should happen around age 12. Parents thought it could happen at 11.

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