Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria

Parent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues is associated with healthy sexual outcomes in adolescents. The increasing evasion of this discourse at the home front in sub-Saharan Africa is receiving greater academic and public health attention. In many Nigerian ho...

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Main Authors: Taofeek Kolawole Aliyu, Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2023-04-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231166607
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author Taofeek Kolawole Aliyu
Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola
author_facet Taofeek Kolawole Aliyu
Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola
author_sort Taofeek Kolawole Aliyu
collection DOAJ
description Parent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues is associated with healthy sexual outcomes in adolescents. The increasing evasion of this discourse at the home front in sub-Saharan Africa is receiving greater academic and public health attention. In many Nigerian households, adolescents lack access to informative and undiluted communication with their parents, a situation that is worse for adolescents dwelling in slums. This study documented SRH issues and patterns of parent-adolescent communication in selected slums of Ibadan, Southwestern, Nigeria. A mixed sequential explanatory research was carried out in 10 selected slums in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire scripted on open data kits (ODK) and vignette for Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used to obtain data from parents and adolescents. A sample of 796 parent-adolescent dyads was interviewed for the quantitative strand, and 8 FGDs were conducted for the qualitative component. Analytical techniques utilized for quantitative data included descriptive (frequency counts and percentages) and inferential (chi-square) statistics, while descriptive and interpretative analyses were adopted for qualitative data. Communication regarding SRH issues occurs in many households, but indirectly. A higher proportion of mothers discuss all SRH issues with their adolescents and better than fathers. While female adolescents engage their parents only on limited topics, the consequences of sexual behaviors are the least discussed. The chi-square values for each topic were not significant for parents and adolescents, however, only the discussion of preventive sexual practice was significant for parents (0.042) at a significant level of 0.05 and adolescents (0.000) at a significant level of 0.01. The findings of this study suggest that sexual education training intervention is germane to enhancing parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues for parents and adolescents.
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spelling doaj.art-6ff43d567f534868a9c4030c223676442023-04-10T14:03:24ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402023-04-011310.1177/21582440231166607Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in NigeriaTaofeek Kolawole Aliyu0Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola1Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, NigeriaObafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, NigeriaParent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues is associated with healthy sexual outcomes in adolescents. The increasing evasion of this discourse at the home front in sub-Saharan Africa is receiving greater academic and public health attention. In many Nigerian households, adolescents lack access to informative and undiluted communication with their parents, a situation that is worse for adolescents dwelling in slums. This study documented SRH issues and patterns of parent-adolescent communication in selected slums of Ibadan, Southwestern, Nigeria. A mixed sequential explanatory research was carried out in 10 selected slums in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire scripted on open data kits (ODK) and vignette for Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used to obtain data from parents and adolescents. A sample of 796 parent-adolescent dyads was interviewed for the quantitative strand, and 8 FGDs were conducted for the qualitative component. Analytical techniques utilized for quantitative data included descriptive (frequency counts and percentages) and inferential (chi-square) statistics, while descriptive and interpretative analyses were adopted for qualitative data. Communication regarding SRH issues occurs in many households, but indirectly. A higher proportion of mothers discuss all SRH issues with their adolescents and better than fathers. While female adolescents engage their parents only on limited topics, the consequences of sexual behaviors are the least discussed. The chi-square values for each topic were not significant for parents and adolescents, however, only the discussion of preventive sexual practice was significant for parents (0.042) at a significant level of 0.05 and adolescents (0.000) at a significant level of 0.01. The findings of this study suggest that sexual education training intervention is germane to enhancing parent-adolescent communication on SRH issues for parents and adolescents.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231166607
spellingShingle Taofeek Kolawole Aliyu
Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola
Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
SAGE Open
title Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
title_full Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
title_fullStr Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
title_short Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria
title_sort parent adolescent communication about reproductive health issues in nigeria
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231166607
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