Adolescent Parent Communication Concerning Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues Among Sendafa High School and Preparatory Students

Desalegn Neme,Matifan Dereje

doi:10.11648/j.ijg.20200401.14

Abstract

Globally, adolescents constitute about one billion of the world’s population, with majority living in developing nations. Adolescent parent communication is among several strategies that improves sexual and reproductive health issues. The aim of this study was to determine adolescent-parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues among Sendafa high school students. Cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from May to July, 2016 G. C., at Sendafa high school and preparatory students. All unmarried and aged 13-24, who are attending school during the data collection were included in the study. Study participants were interviewed about their socio demographic characteristics and level of communication with their parents using structured questionnaire. Data were checked for completeness and entered into EPI Info and transferred for analysis to SPSS version 20 software. A total of 304 sendafa high school students were assessed for adolescent parent communication regarding sexual and reproductive health issues during study period. The mean age of the respondents was 16.77±1.78SD, with a range of 13- 24 years. 190 (62.5%) of students were agreed on the importance of adolescent parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues. 163 (55.9%) and 161 (53.2%) of study participants were discussed with their parents on contraceptive method and STI/HIV/AIDS respectively. 155 (50.9%) of respondents reported that they choices their friends, while 62 (20.4%) and 45 (14.8%) of the study participants choices their sister and mother respectively. According to the finding of the present study the parent adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health issues were low. Therefore, training and education to improve the adolescent-parent communication is recommended for the both.

Highlights

Adolescents constitute about one billion of the world’s population, with majority living in developing nations [1,2,3]
Adolescents who become sexually active enter an arena of high-risk behaviors, which may increase in the incidence of premarital sex and leads to an increase in unwanted pregnancies, abortion morbidity/mortality, and sexually transmitted diseases [7]
A total of 304 sendafa high school students were assessed for adolescent parent communication regarding sexual and reproductive health issues during study period with the response rate of 100%

Summary

Introduction

Adolescents constitute about one billion of the world’s population, with majority living in developing nations [1,2,3]. One of the key areas of socialization is communication on sexual and reproductive health issues (SRH) [4]. Adolescent parent communication is among several strategies that improves sexual and reproductive health issues [5, 6]. Communicating sexual related issues with adolescents including abstinence, premarital sex, unwanted pregnancy, menstrual cycle and how to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), are good parenting practice that improve sexual and reproductive health related problem as reported by different researcher over the world [6]. Adolescents who become sexually active enter an arena of high-risk behaviors, which may increase in the incidence of premarital sex and leads to an increase in unwanted pregnancies, abortion morbidity/mortality, and sexually transmitted diseases [7]. Evidence has shown that the communication protects the young from engaging in risky sexual practices and its adverse health consequences [8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion