Concerns and educational needs of Iranian parents regarding the sexual health of their male adolescents: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Parents play an important role in promoting the sexual health of their adolescents. However, many parents experience several challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore the concerns and educational needs of Iranian parents regarding the sexual health of their male adolescents. Methods: This qualitative study was designed based on the conventional content analysis approach. Semistructured and in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 parents of male adolescents aged 12-18 years. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were collected through purposeful sampling and continued until data saturation. Finally, the Graneheim and Landman strategies were used to analyze data. Results: According to the participants' comments, four main categories were extracted as follows: fear of emotional and sexual harms, quality of parent-child relationships, effect of media and cyberspace, and necessity of sexuality health education. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the need for sexuality health education through cooperation with schools for offering appropriate education to the students, parents, and school staffs. The results showed that parents required training to enhance their knowledge and skills to improve their communication with their adolescents about sexuality issues. Therefore, it is necessary to design, implement, and evaluate culture-appropriate educational programs to address the parents' concerns regarding adolescents' sexual health.

Stakeholders’ perception and intervention preferences regarding comprehensive sexuality education in male adolescents: a qualitative study from Iran

“…Revising the laws according to the needs of the society, and informing the judges about the differences in the issuance of sentences for different sexual orientations (homosexual, gender dysphonia), sexual offenders and sexual patients (paraphilia) were also suggested as the reasons for cooperating with the judicial organization (40,52). Our ndings, in accordance with previous studies (24,42,53), indicated a dual role for the media and cyberspace. The participants suggested that the media, especially the state television, should take measures to break the taboo around sexuality.…”

“…Empowerment of parents regarding sexuality education is an effective intervention for promoting the adolescents' sexual health (21,24,39,40). Therefore, sensitizing parents, encouraging their interaction with the school, and empowering them in order to reduce their resistance against formal education were among the suggestions proposed by teachers and policymakers.…”

“…Access to information and skills regarding the use of reproductive health services is the main need of male adolescents (22,23). Babayanzad et al (2020) also underlined the need for sexual health education for students, teachers, instructors, and school authorities to meet the needs of the parents of adolescent boys (24). Because access to information and sexual health skills help young people change their attitude and motivate them to engage in conscious and responsible behaviors related to their own and their partners' sexual health (25)(26)(27), interventions based on information, motivation and behavioral skills model (IMB) are recommended for sexual health improvement because its constructs are behavior determinants (26,28).…”

Stakeholders’ perspectives of comprehensive sexuality education in Iranian male adolescents

“…As reported previously (37-39), a combination of individual, family, religious, and socio-political factors can in uence the people's perceptions of sexuality education and its acceptance at the national level. Similar to previous studies, this study showed empowerment of parents regarding sexuality education is an effective intervention for promoting the adolescents' sexual health (22,26,40,41). Therefore, sensitizing parents, encouraging their interaction with the school, and empowering them in order to reduce their resistance against formal education were among the suggestions proposed by teachers and policymakers.…”

“…They have made several achievements in combating HIV/AIDS, with the focus on injectable drug users, but have countered a series of challenges and gaps in the determination of violence against women prevalence, gender equality, the increase of high risk behaviour in adolescents and sexual education for them (25). Babayanzad et al (2020) also underlined the need for sexual health education for students, teachers, instructors, and school authorities to meet the needs of the parents of adolescent boys in Iran (26). Because of acquiring information and sexual health skills can help change adolescents' attitudes and responsible behaviors (27)(28)(29),so interventions based on information, motivation and behavioral skills model (IMB) are recommended for sexual health (29,30).…”