Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa
AbstractIncreasing rates of mobile phone access present potential new opportunities and risks for adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health in resource-poor settings. We investigated associations between mobile phone access/use and sexual risks in a cohort of 10–24-year-olds in South Africa. 1563...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2267893 |
| _version_ | 1797202632152973312 |
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| author | Boladé Hamed Banougnin Elona Toska Brendan Maughan-Brown William Rudgard Lucas Hertzog Janina Jochim Alice Armstrong Lucie Cluver |
| author_facet | Boladé Hamed Banougnin Elona Toska Brendan Maughan-Brown William Rudgard Lucas Hertzog Janina Jochim Alice Armstrong Lucie Cluver |
| author_sort | Boladé Hamed Banougnin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AbstractIncreasing rates of mobile phone access present potential new opportunities and risks for adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health in resource-poor settings. We investigated associations between mobile phone access/use and sexual risks in a cohort of 10–24-year-olds in South Africa. 1563 adolescents (69% living with HIV) were interviewed in three waves between 2014 and 2018. We assessed mobile phone access and use to search for health content and social media. Self-reported sexual risks included: sex after substance use, unprotected sex, multiple sexual partnerships and inequitable sexual partnerships in the past 12 months. We examined associations between mobile phone access/use and sexual risks using covariate-adjusted mixed-effects logistic regression models. Mobile phone access alone was not associated with any sexual risks. Social media use alone (vs. no mobile phone access) was associated with a significantly increased probability of unprotected sex (adjusted average marginal effects [AMEs] + 4.7 percentage points [ppts], 95% CI 1.6–7.8). However, health content use (vs. no mobile phone access) was associated with significantly decreased probabilities of sex after substance use (AMEs –5.3 ppts, 95% CI –7.4 to –3.2) and unprotected sex (AMEs –7.5 ppts, 95% CI –10.6 to –4.4). Moreover, mobile phone access and health content use were associated with increased risks of multiple sexual partnerships in boys. Health content use was associated with increased risks of inequitable sexual partnerships in adolescents not living with HIV. Results suggest an urgent need for strategies to harness mobile phone use for protection from growing risks due to social media exposure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:00:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf9d8b1dd0b748b69b8b0b62c967601d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2641-0397 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T08:06:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf9d8b1dd0b748b69b8b0b62c967601d2024-04-17T10:52:58ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSexual and Reproductive Health Matters2641-03972023-12-0131410.1080/26410397.2023.2267893Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South AfricaBoladé Hamed Banougnin0Elona Toska1Brendan Maughan-Brown2William Rudgard3Lucas Hertzog4Janina Jochim5Alice Armstrong6Lucie Cluver7Programme Data Analyst, United Nations Population Fund West and Central Africa Regional Office, Dakar, Senegal; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Correspondence:Chief Research Officer, Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Associate Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, South Africa; [Research Associate] Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, UKChief Research Officer, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town, South AfricaSenior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, UKResearch Fellow, Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Research Fellow, Curtin School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, AustraliaPostdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, UKRegional HIV/AIDS Specialist, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Region, Nairobi, KenyaProfessor of Child and Family Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, UK; Honorary Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South AfricaAbstractIncreasing rates of mobile phone access present potential new opportunities and risks for adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health in resource-poor settings. We investigated associations between mobile phone access/use and sexual risks in a cohort of 10–24-year-olds in South Africa. 1563 adolescents (69% living with HIV) were interviewed in three waves between 2014 and 2018. We assessed mobile phone access and use to search for health content and social media. Self-reported sexual risks included: sex after substance use, unprotected sex, multiple sexual partnerships and inequitable sexual partnerships in the past 12 months. We examined associations between mobile phone access/use and sexual risks using covariate-adjusted mixed-effects logistic regression models. Mobile phone access alone was not associated with any sexual risks. Social media use alone (vs. no mobile phone access) was associated with a significantly increased probability of unprotected sex (adjusted average marginal effects [AMEs] + 4.7 percentage points [ppts], 95% CI 1.6–7.8). However, health content use (vs. no mobile phone access) was associated with significantly decreased probabilities of sex after substance use (AMEs –5.3 ppts, 95% CI –7.4 to –3.2) and unprotected sex (AMEs –7.5 ppts, 95% CI –10.6 to –4.4). Moreover, mobile phone access and health content use were associated with increased risks of multiple sexual partnerships in boys. Health content use was associated with increased risks of inequitable sexual partnerships in adolescents not living with HIV. Results suggest an urgent need for strategies to harness mobile phone use for protection from growing risks due to social media exposure.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2267893mobile phone accesssocial media usehealth content usesexual risk behavioursHIV |
| spellingShingle | Boladé Hamed Banougnin Elona Toska Brendan Maughan-Brown William Rudgard Lucas Hertzog Janina Jochim Alice Armstrong Lucie Cluver Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters mobile phone access social media use health content use sexual risk behaviours HIV |
| title | Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa |
| title_full | Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa |
| title_short | Associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in South Africa |
| title_sort | associations of social media and health content use with sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in south africa |
| topic | mobile phone access social media use health content use sexual risk behaviours HIV |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2267893 |
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