Parenting perspective on the psychosocial correlates of adolescent sexual and reproductive health behavior among high school adolescents in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background While parents are a crucial part of the social environment in which adolescents live, learn and earn, they could play important roles in efforts to prevent adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) risk behaviors and promote healthy development. Involving parents in prevention programs to risky SRH practices in adolescents requires understanding of the effect of different parenting practices and styles on these behaviors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between various aspects of perceived parenting and self-reported engagement in sexual risk behavior among adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional study was employed among 406 randomly selected 14–19 years old high school adolescents in Legehida district, Northeast Ethiopia from 15 February to 15 March/ 2016. Structured and pre-tested self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance questionnaire was used for the data collection. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis with odds ratio along with the confidence interval of 95% were used. P -value < 0.05 were considered for statistical significance. Results About two-third (64.5%) of the participants reported that they had ever had sex. Nearly half (48.6%) of the participants who were currently sexually active reported that they engaged in at least one type of risky sexual behavior. Specifically, 42.7% reported starting sexual life earlier, 32.2% having more sexual partners in the past 12 months and 23.8% never used condom during the most recent sexual intercourse. High quality parent─adolescent relationships (AOR = 0.53; 95% CI (0.45–0.63) and authoritative form of parenting (AOR = 0.74; 95% CI (0.61–0.92) were associated with lower odds of engaging in risky sexual behaviors in adolescents. The odds of risky sexual behaviors were about three-fold higher in adolescents who perceived parental knowledge as poor (AOR = 2.97; 95% CI (1.51–4.25) and to some extent (AOR = 3.00; 95% CI (1.43–5.55) toward SRH than those whose parents were very knowledgeable. Adolescents with poor behavioral beliefs on SRH issues had a 37% increased odds of engaging in risky sexual behaviors. Conclusions Therefore, to engage the parents within preventive interventions design to support healthy SRH behaviors among adolescents, the role of authoritative parenting style, and improved quality of parent-adolescent relationship, as well as improving adolescents’ behavioral beliefs and parental knowledge towards SRH are essential.

Risky sexual behaviours among adolescent undergraduate students in Nigeria: does social context of early adolescence matter?

“…Emerging data also showed that when parents maintain strict and authoritative parenting style that does not include comprehensive sex education, adolescents tend to engage in risky sexual acts in the university. This disagrees with the findings of Yimer and Ashebir [ 29 ], which reported that authoritative parenting, is associated with decreased odds of engaging in risky sexual behaviour. In this study, participants from authoritative homes see the university environment as a place to do what they were prevented from doing at home, which includes exploring their sexuality.…”

Parents’ Involvement in Sexual and Reproductive Health Education for Children: A Scoping Review

“…In addition, the study of Nair (2012) and Yimer (2019) found that the factors that influence parenting communication related to sexuality matters are knowledge. Lack of knowledge and uncertainty about what they are going to teach to children is a reason behind parents who do not discuss about sexual and reproductive health.…”

<p>Does Youth-Friendly Service Intervention Reduce Risky Sexual Behavior in Unmarried Adolescents? A Comparative Study in West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia</p>

“…This finding is in line with other studies in Ethiopia reporting that youths who had parent-adolescent communication were less likely to commence sexual activity or have multiple sexual partners than their counterparts. [35][36][37] Similarly, studies conducted on the role of parents on adolescent SRH behavior in sub-Saharan Africa have also indicated that good family communication has been associated with less engagement in risky sexual behavior. Adolescents who engaged in conversations about sexrelated topics with their parents were less likely to report being sexually experienced, reported fewer lifetime sex partners, and were more likely to report using condoms.…”

“…Those who had had sexual intercourse were again asked about age at first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners, and condom utilization. Respondents who had at least one of behavior among sexual debut before age 15 years, inconsistentcondom use (or not using condoms at all) in the last 6 months, and multiple sexual partners were classified as engaging in risky sexual behavior 36 and were "1". The remaining (ever abstained, secondary abstinence or consistent condom use for the last 6 months) were classified as engaging in safe sexual behavior and coded "0".…”

“…A number of studies in Ethiopia [35][36][37] and other countries 8,[38][39][40] assessing the sexual behavior of adolescents have reported that parent-adolescent communication has a significant role in reducing adolescents' risky sexual behavior. Adolescents with good parental communication regarding SRH issues were more likely to engage in safe sexual behavior, including abstinence, 8,35,36 delaying first sexual intercourse, fewer lifetime sexual partners, and using condoms, 35,38,39 and less likely to experience teenage pregnancy. 37 This study elucidates whether YFS programs or parent-adolescent communication are important in explaining adolescents' sexual behavior.…”