Parent - adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health: the qualitative evidences from parents and students of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Repeatedly adolescents in Africa have been experiencing early pregnancy by more than 50%, early parenthood by 30% and new HIV infections by more than 80%. Parent -Adolescent communication as an effective strategy on sexual and reproductive health has not been taken up in most of African countries including Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to assess the challenges of Parent -Adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health practices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A qualitative cross-sectional study exploring Parent -Adolescent communication practices was conducted in two high schools Yeka sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Students aged 15-19 years were recruited for in-depth interviews and focused group discussions (FGD) as well as respective parents for in-depth interviews and parents' FGD. Results: Twenty students were available for in-depth interviews and all of them for FDG. Sixteen parents were available for in-depth interviews and nine of them for parent's FGD. Parent -Adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive was reported to be important by both adolescents and parents. The parental initiation is rare. The initial sexual activity by the adolescents triggers initiation by parents. The communications are gender dependent, not planned and not continuous and inhibited by intergenerational cultural taboo. A gap exists in parental knowledge on such communications. Parents deny responsibilities to communicate with adolescent as they fear it will perpetuate early sex practices, adolescents are too young it's an embarrassment, often being busy for household income retards their wills to communicate. Conclusions: Parent-Adolescent communications on sexual and reproductive health is not a common practice in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia due to taboo, cultural structures, gender domains and parental knowledge. These findings alarm the risk of adolescent exposure towards unwanted pregnancies, transmissions of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Addis Ababa.

Determinants of early sexual initiation among female youth in Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis of 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey

“…Furthermore, education may bring a behavioral change towards the reduction of risk factors like, substance use which may expose them to early sexual initiation [40]. Moreover, parent-youth communication and supervision might be good for youth who are educated [13,14,22,25,41]. Chewing Chat was positively associated with early sexual initiation.…”

“…In addition, due to the cultural and religious tightness of the nation, Ethiopians initiated sexual activity after marriage. Despite the above assumption and legal issues, more than 60% of women start their sexual intercourse before they celebrate their 18 birth date [3,5,[11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…In Ethiopia, different researches have been done on the prevalence and/or factors associated with early sexual initiation in female adolescent and youth. Age, residence, educational status, parent-youth discussion, using addictive substances and religion are determinant factors identified by scholars [3,5,11,12,14,15,30,31]. But, all the studies were done at the local level, use a small sample size and do not consider the effect of community-level factors.…”

Determinants of early sexual initiation among female youth in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis of 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey

“…Furthermore, education may bring a behavioral change towards the reduction of risk factors like, substance use which may expose them to early sexual initiation (40). Moreover, parent-youth communication and supervision might be good for youth who are educated (13,14,22,25,41).…”

“…In Ethiopia, different researches have been done on the prevalence and/or factors associated with early sexual initiation in female adolescent and youth. Age, residence, educational status, parent-youth discussion, using addictive substances and religion are determinant factors identi ed by scholars (3,5,11,12,14,15,30,31). But, all the studies were done at the local level, use a small sample size and do not consider the effect of community-level factors.…”