In many African societies, socio-cultural norms define sexuality as taboo, allowing only ceremonial rites or authorized persons, such as aunts or uncles to approach the subject with young people. Now with urbanization and modernization, traditional approaches are compromised. The role played by community-appointed teachers must now be assumed in part by the family and in particular by parents.
The main purpose of this study is to measure the relationship between parent-adolescent communication and adolescent reproductive health outcomes in Lomé, Togo. The data for this study was derived from a larger population-based cross-sectional study called the ?Evaluation of ATBEF Youth Center in Lomé, Togo? that assessed the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of 2083 adolescents aged 10-24 years and 1027 parents 30 years or older.
The multivariate results show that communication with two parents is positively associated with contraception use among adolescents who are sexually active for both young men and women. Adolescents who communicate with either parent specifically about STI/HIV are more likely to use contraception, particularly condoms. Further analyses show the importance of communicating about STI/HIV. Adolescents who communicated with two parents on the topic of STI/HIV were more likely to use condoms than adolescents who communicated with two parents about reproductive health topics other than STI/HIV.
The results of this study increase our comprehension about the influence of parent-adolescent RH communication in developing countries and how it affects adolescent reproductive health outcomes. An understanding of parent-adolescent reproductive health communication is important in developing future youth programs and strategies.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session the participants (learner) in this session will be able to: 1. Identify levels and topics of parent-adolescents communication among adolescents and parents; 2. Discuss the determinants of parent-adolescent communication; 3. Describe the relationship of parent-adolescent communication with adolescent reproductive health outcomes.
Keywords: Adolescents, International, Communication
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.