Parents’ attitude towards sexual and reproductive health communication: The case of Wa West district of the Upper West Region, Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundParents’ communication with their adolescents on sexual and reproductive health essentially decreases adolescent perilous sexual conduct. Available evidence supports a strong relationship between parents’ attitude and their communication with adolescents on sexual and reproductive issues. AimsThis study assessed the attitude of parents towards sexual and reproductive health communication with their adolescents in the Wa West District. MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 respondents. A multistage sampling technique was used to select study respondents. Data were collected employing trained research assistants using a structured questionnaire and analysed with IBM SPSS version 25. ResultsThe majority (96.2%) of the respondents had a positive attitude towards adolescent sexual and reproductive health communication There was a significant relationship between the sex of respondents and attitude toward sexual and reproductive health (SRH) communication with adolescents (P < 0.03, C 1.226–54.841). Conclusion and recommendationParents especially females had a positive attitude towards SRH communication with their adolescents. Healthcare stakeholders need to empower female parents with SRH information to be able to fruitfully communicate with their adolescents.