“If your mother does not teach you, the world will…”: A qualitative study of parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in Border districts of eastern Uganda
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research square
Abstract
Adolescents (10–19 years) in developing countries experience a host of sexual and reproductive (SRH)
challenges, with detrimental SRH and socio-economic consequences. These include early sexual debut,
sexually transmitted infections including HIV, unsafe abortions, teenage pregnancy, and early
childbearing. Parent-adolescent communication about SRH has significant potential to reduce
adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors. However, communication between parents and adolescents is
limited. We assessed the facilitators and barriers to parent-adolescent communication about sexual and
reproductive health in two border districts of Eastern Uganda.
Methods
A community-based cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted in the border districts of Busia and
Tororo in Eastern Uganda. Data collection entailed 8 Focus Group Discussions comprising parents,
adolescents (10–17 years) and 26 Key Informants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and
translated into English. Thematic analysis was conducted with the aid of NVIVO 12 software.
Results
Parent-adolescent communication about SRH was not common. Facilitators of parent-adolescent
communication were: good parent-child relationship, role of the mother, education level, and exposure of
the parent. Parents are, however, limited by sexual and reproductive health-related cultural norms,
inadequate capacity for parents to address pertinent SRH issues, busy schedules, poor modeling by
parents, and inability to meet children’s /household basic needs.
Conclusion
Parents’ ability to communicate with their children is hindered by cultural barriers and inadequate
knowledge. There is a need to equip parents with adequate information and skills to ease
communication. Additionally, parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health
should be integrated into parenting interventions so as to improve SRH communication between parents
and children.
Description
Keywords
Adolescent, Parent, Guardian, Communication, Sexual and reproductive health, Barriers
Citation
Ndugga, Patricia, et al. "“If your mother does not teach you, the world will…”: A qualitative study of parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in Border districts of eastern Uganda." (2022). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2179438/v1