<p>Mobile phone, social media usage, and perceptions of delivering a social media safer sex intervention for adolescents: results from two countries</p>

Abstract

Purpose: Rates of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents remain high in the United States and Botswana. Mobile phone density rates in Botswana exceed those of the United States. Yet, in both countries, safer sex information continues to be delivered primarily via face-to-face curricula such as Becoming a Responsible Teen and Living as a Safe Teen . While social media shows promise as a medium for delivering risk-reduction information to youth, few studies have been conducted in either country to assess its effectiveness. This study examines adolescents in both countries, their mobile phone and social media usage, and their perceptions of safer sex interventions delivered via social media. Design and methods: Three focus groups were conducted with 28 adolescents 13–18 years of age who lived in the United States (n=14) and Botswana (n=14). Data analysis was ongoing, which informed the data collection process. After the first group, no additional revisions were made to the focus group protocol. An abridged method of analyzing the data was employed. Results: Adolescents in all groups discussed peer pressure and connectedness with mobile phones and social media and had general knowledge of STIs and HIV. The adolescents agreed that adaptation of risk reduction interventions for mobile phone and social media delivery was warranted, and they shared ideas for adaptation. Practice implications: Our findings provide a starting point for researchers interested in developing a social media intervention with global implications for sexual health promotion.

HIV knowledge and associated factors among young Ethiopians: application of multilevel order logistic regression using the 2016 EDHS

“…For mobile owners compared to non-owners, the odds of having a comprehensive knowledge of HIV instead of low to moderate knowledge of HIV was higher by more than 27%. This finding is similar to the study done on adolescents from the United States and Botswana, where adolescents who discussed peer pressure and connectedness with mobile phones and social media had a general knowledge of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV [ 38 ]. On the other hand, studies from Ghana, Uganda, and the United States elucidated that mobile phone usage among youths is useful for delivering HIV related information and HIV prevention [ 36 , 37 , 39 ].…”

“…This could be due to differences in access to mass media between urban and rural youths which play a very vital role in disseminating HIV-related educations and awareness creations. This study and other studies [18,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] depicted that exposure to mass media is associated with acquiring comprehensive HIVknowledge.…”

Exploring perceptions of low risk behaviour and drivers to test for HIV among South African youth

“…Of the 231 100 new HIV infections reported in SA in 2017, youth (15–24 years) contributed to the majority (38%) of new HIV infections in 2017 [ 3 ]. Youth often engage in sexual activities without using a condom [ 3 , 4 ], have multiple sexual partners [ 5 ], and early sexual debut [ 3 , 6 ] that place them at high risk for HIV. Despite their high risk behaviour, youth often perceive low vulnerability to HIV [ 6 ].…”

“…Youth often engage in sexual activities without using a condom [ 3 , 4 ], have multiple sexual partners [ 5 ], and early sexual debut [ 3 , 6 ] that place them at high risk for HIV. Despite their high risk behaviour, youth often perceive low vulnerability to HIV [ 6 ]. Partly for this reason, utilisation of HIV testing remains low among this population and a high proportion of youth are not aware of their HIV status [ 5 , 7 , 8 ].…”

An Examination of Twitter Data to Identify Risky Sexual Practices Among Youth and Young Adults in Botswana

“…Social media shows promise in the dissemination of mobile health information. A recent focus group with Botswana teens indicated that using social media to disseminate health promotion information about safer-sex practices is feasible and acceptable [8]. To date, social media interventions have focused on population health, [9] smoking cessation awareness [10], weight reduction [11], and behavior change among college students [12].…”