ADOLESCENT-PARENT COMMUNICATION ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF TOKHA MUNICIPALITY, NEPAL : A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Downloads
Background: As compared to other age groups, adolescents are more vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health issues. Parents can become protective and influencing factors for their children to prevent risky sexual behavior. Purpose: This study aimed to assess adolescent-parent communication on sexual and reproductive health and its associated factors. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study among 212 adolescents aged 15–19 in higher secondary schools of Tokha Municipality. A self-administered structured modified questionnaire to assess the communication used the Weighted Topics Measure of Family Sexual Communication tool with a simple random sampling technique. Descriptive statistical analysis and chi-square tests were used to analyze data and assess the association between variables. Data quality was assured through careful questionnaire design, pretesting, and training. Results: The study found that 75.9% of adolescents had communicated on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) topics with their parents, 24.1% never communicated, 47.2% seldom communicated on SRH topics, followed by sometimes (23.6%) and often (5.2%), respectively. Adolescent-parent communication on SRH was significantly associated with the level of knowledge regarding sexual and reproductive health (ê“2 = 5.809, p-value = 0.01, df = 1). Similarly, there was a significant association with the perceived parenting style (ê“2 =3.932, p-value =0.04, df =1), living arrangements (ê“2 =6.376, p-value=0.01, df =1), and adolescent-parent communication. Conclusion: It concluded that adolescent-parent communication on SRH issues is not satisfactory. Creating an adolescent-friendly environment at home and conducting awareness programs with the help of the local government of the respective schools would help to increase adolescent-parent communication.
Adolescent health. 2022. WHO. Available at https://www.who.int/southeastasia/health-topics/adolescent-health
UNICEF. 2022. Adolescents Statistics - UNICEF DATA. Available at https://data.unicef.org/topic/adolescents/overview/
WHO. 2017. More than 1.2 million adolescents die every year, nearly all preventable. Available at https://www.who.int/news/item/16-05-2017-more-than-1-2-million-adolescents-die-every-year-nearly-all-preventable
UNICEF. 2019. Adolescents Statistics - UNICEF DATA. Available at https://data.unicef.org/topic/adolescents/overview/
WHO. 2019. Adolescents: health risks and solutions - Preda Foundation, Inc. Available at https://www.preda.org/2019/adolescents-health-risks-and-solutions/
UNFPA. 2016. UNFPA Nepal | World Population Day. Available at https://nepal.unfpa.org/en/node/10804
Shiferaw K., Getahun F., Asres G. 2014. Assessment of adolescents' communication on sexual and reproductive health matters with parents and associated factors among secondary and preparatory schools' students in Debremarkos town, North West Ethiopia. Reproductive Health, 11(1), pp. 2. doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-11-2
Bastien S., Kajula L, Muhwezi W. 2011. A review of studies of parent-child communication about sexuality and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Reproductive Health, 8(25). doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-8-25
Bhatta B. R., Kiriya J., Shibanuma A., Jimba M. 2021. Parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health and the utilization of adolescent-friendly health services in Kailali, Nepal. PLoS One, 16(2), pp. e0246917. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246917
Pokharel S., Adhikari A., Upadhyay, P. 2016. Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Utilization Pattern of Adolescents in Nepal. The NEHU Journal, XIV(2), pp. 55-67.
Divya, Mandikandan. 2013. Parenting Style Scale. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339712217_Parenting_Style_Scale
Tuladhar JB., Shrestha A. 2021. Communication On Sexual And Reproductive Health Among School Going Adolescents And Parents. Journal of Chitwan Medical College, 11(35), pp. 59-72. doi:10.54530/jcmc.294
Wudineh K. G., Chekole F. A., Tesfu A. A. 2021. Adolescent-parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues and associated factors among secondary school students in Woreta town, Northwest Ethiopia: An institutional based cross sectional study. Heliyon, 7(3), pp. e06528. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06528
Vongsavanh V., Lan V. T. H., Sychareun V. 2020. Sexual and reproductive health communication between parents and high school adolescents in Vientiane Prefecture, Lao PDR. Glob Health Action, 13(sup2), pp. 1785145. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2020.1785145
Dagnachew Adam N, Demissie GD, Gelagay AA. 2020. Parent-Adolescent Communication on Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues and Associated Factors among Preparatory and Secondary School Students of Dabat Town, Northwest Ethiopia. J Environ Public Health, 25(2020), pp. 470809. doi: 10.1155/2020/4708091
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright of the article is transferred to the journal, by the knowledge of the author, whilst the moral right of the publication belongs to the author. In order to be accepted and published by JPH RECODE, author(s) submitting the article manuscript should complete all the review stages. By submitting the manuscript, the author(s) agreed to these following terms:
The copyright of accepted articles shall be assigned to JPH RECODE as the publisher of the journal. The intended copyright includes the rights to publish articles in various forms (including reprints). JPH RECODE maintain the publishing rights to the published articles.
Authors are permitted to disseminate published article by sharing the link/DOI of the article at JPH RECODE. Authors are allowed to use their articles for any legal purposes deemed necessary without written permission form JPH RECODE with an acknowledgement of initial publication to this journal.
The Copyright Transfer Agreement Form can be downloaded ON THIS FORM.
