Relationships: Worried about daughter's older pals

Dear Dinah,

My daughter has amassed an extraordinary number of male friends who are a lot older than her. She's 19 and has been staying with her father and me in Beijing for about six months. She talks about a different guy she's seeing every week. Should I send her back to the United States early?

Multiple studies have shown that a weak and distant father-daughter relationship can result in a woman having an above average number of sexual partners. Whether or not you send her back home early, most likely her behavior will not change. Now that you have the opportunity to be with your daughter, be frank with your concerns. Encourage your daughter and husband to spend more time together. Is she looking for a father figure to fill a void? Counseling would be helpful, especially at her age. She may need trained guidance to uncover what she is trying to fulfill through these relationships and find a constructive way to achieve it.

Need advice? Ask METRO's agony aunt Dinah Chong Watkins on metrobeijing@chinadaily.com.cn or visit our Sina Weibo @chinadailymetro. Please give as many details about your situation as possible.