Perceptions and experiences of adolescents, parents and school administrators regarding adolescent-parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in urban and rural Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundEvidence suggests that in spite of some adolescents being sexually active, many parents do not discuss sex-related issues with them due to lack of age-appropriate respectful vocabulary and skills. The likelihood of parent-adolescent communication improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes appears plausible. The desire to understand parent-adolescent communication and how to improve it for promotion of healthy sexual behaviours inspired this research. The paper is meant to describe perceptions of adolescents, parents and school administrators about parent-adolescent communication on sexual issues; describe the content of such communication and identify factors that influence this communication.MethodsThe study was done among two urban and two rural secondary school students in their second year of education. Data were collected from 11 focus group discussions and 10 key Informants Interviews. Data management, analysis and interpretation followed thematic analysis principles. Illuminating verbatim quotations are used to illustrate findings.ResultsParental warmth and acceptability of children was perceived by parents to be foundational for a healthy adolescent- parent communication. Perceptions of adolescents tended to point to more open and frequent communication with mothers than fathers and to cordial relationships with mothers. Fathers were perceived by adolescents to be strict, intimidating, unapproachable and unavailable. While adolescents tended to generally discuss sexual issues with mothers, male adolescents communicated less with anyone on sex, relationships and condoms. Much of the parent-adolescent communication was perceived to focus on sexually transmitted infections and body changes. Discussions of sex and dating with adolescents were perceived to be rare. Common triggers of sexuality discussions with female adolescents were; onset of menstruation and perceived abortion in the neighbourhood. Discussion with male adolescents, if it occurred was perceived to be triggered by parental suspicion of having female ‘friends’ or coming home late. Peers at school and mass media were perceived to the main source of sexuality information.ConclusionsCommunication on sexuality issues between parents and their adolescent children was infrequent and critical elements like sex and specifics of protection against undesirable sexual behaviour consequences were avoided. Peers, schools and mass media should be creatively harnessed to improve parent-adolescent communication about sexuality issues.

Parents Support Implementation of HIV Testing and Counseling at School: Cross-Sectional Study with Parents of Adolescent Attending High School in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africa

“…As mentioned, two-thirds of the households did not have a father; nevertheless, the results showed that most of the discussions regarding sexuality were carried out by the biological mothers. This finding is in line with previous data which indicates that most parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health issues is between the mothers and their adolescent children [15–17]. It should be noted that the proportion of parents who had communicated with their children at any time was high, although half indicated that it was not easy to discuss sexual topics with children.…”

Access to Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Information and Services in Ghana: A Community-Based Case-Control Study

“…Despite the importance of teachers, health workers and parents in providing such information and services to adolescent girls, negative socio-cultural norms regarding sexuality education may hinder the role such stakeholders play in the lives of adolescent girls (16,43,44). Parents usually feel uncomfortable discussing sexuality and reproductive health issues with their own children due negative norms in society (43,45).…”

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“…For instance, parental embarrassment and lack of confidence are recognised barriers in studies conducted among predominately white British and Australian populations . Similarly, fear of talking about sexuality has been identified as a concern associated with making young people more likely to have sex in a diverse range of settings including Vietnam, Uganda, and Namibia …”