Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

2018

Subjects

Sex differences, Reproductive health, HIV (Viruses) -- Botswana -- Risk factors, Sexual health, Teenagers -- Botswana -- Family relationships

Abstract

Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and in Botswana in particular continue to bear the brunt of the HIV epidemic. This analysis assessed gender differences among theory-based sexual and reproductive health protective and risk factors in a cross-sectional sample of 228 Batswana adolescents. Incongruence between preferred and actual sources of sexual information and several important gender differences in parent-adolescent relationships, psychosocial influences, and adolescent sexual behaviors were identified. Parents were the fourth most common source of information about sex; yet, over three-quarters of adolescents preferred to have parents teach them about sex. Boys reported more positive relationships with their parents and girls reported more positive attitudes toward transactional sex. Both boys and girls reported similarly low levels of parental monitoring, parental communication, and parental responsiveness, all of which are important protective factors. These findings suggest interventions should address these gender differences and consider offering parallel interventions for adolescents and their parents in Botswana.

Description

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in . Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in AIDS Education and Prevention: Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 35-46 and is available online: https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2018.30.1.35

DOI

10.1521/aeap.2018.30.1.35

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26746

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