Adolescent–parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues amongst secondary school students in Western Region 1 of The Gambia
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Adolescent–parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues amongst secondary school students in Western Region 1 of The Gambia | |
| Creator | Sagnia, Phebian I.G. Gharoro, Etadafe P. Isara, Alphonsus R. | |
| Description | Background: Adolescent–parent communication about sexual issues is a challenging issue worldwide. In The Gambia, many traditional communities limit such communication and this can have an adverse influence on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes and behaviours in adolescents.Aim: The study assessed adolescent–parent communication on selected SRH issues amongst secondary school students.Setting: The study was conducted in selected secondary schools in Western Region 1 of The Gambia.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study utilised mixed methods. For the questionnaire survey, secondary school students were selected using a multistage sampling technique whilst parents for focus group discussions were purposively selected.Results: A total of 600 adolescents and 48 parents were studied. Only 360 (60.0%) of the students had heard of SRH. One-third (67.3%) knew about sexually transmitted infection (STIs) such as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (56.5%), gonorrhoea (40.5%) and syphilis (2.5%). Social media (31.0%) were the predominant source of information regarding SRH issues, followed by television (22.0%), school (14.0%) and parents (9.0%). Half (50.8%) of the adolescents discussed sexual intercourse with their parents – mostly with their mothers. Parental and cultural factors, fear, shyness and ignorance were the main reasons why adolescents did not discuss specific SRH issues with their parents.Conclusion: This study showed that adolescent–parent communication on SRH issues was poor. Programmes supporting parents to effectively communicate SRH matters with their children should be designed and implemented. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2020-11-04 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2437 | |
| Source | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 12, No 1 (2020); 7 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2437/4321
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2437/4320
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2437/4322
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2437/4319
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