Parent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health and its determinants among adolescents: Baseline findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Tanzania

Regardless of the importance of youth in socio-economic development around the globe, adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years face problems ranging from their basic to Sexual and Reproductive Health economic needs (SRH). This study determined baseline parent-adolescent communication about SRH from a randomized controlled trial of integrated reproductive health materials in a Problem-Based Pedagogy (PBP) for shaping safe sexual behavior among adolescents in Tanzania. The study employed a baseline cross-section survey from a randomized controlled trial of integrated reproductive health materials in a problem-based learning pedagogy for shaping safe sexual behavior among 647 randomly selected adolescents in Tanzanian ordinary-level secondary schools. The response rate of the study was 100% of which 57.5% were females. Totalities of 73.3% of adolescents reported having never communicated with their parents about SRH. Parent-adolescent communication about SRH matters was found to be low and thus, recommends collaborative parent-adolescent interventions to address it accordingly. Do parents communicate Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) matters with their children? Baseline findings from a randomized controlled trial in TanzaniaPurpose: This study determined baseline parent-adolescent communication about SRH from a randomized controlled trial of integrated reproductive health materials in a Problem-Based Pedagogy (PBP) for shaping safe sexual behaviour among adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years in Tanzania. Methods: The study employed a baseline cross-section survey from a randomized controlled trial of integrated reproductive health materials in a Problem-Based learning pedagogy for shaping safe sexual behavior among 647 randomly selected adolescents in Tanzanian ordinary-level secondary schools. Results: The response rate of the study was 100% of which 57.5% were females. Totalities of 73.3% of adolescents reported having never communicated with their parents about SRH. Conclusion: Parent-adolescent communication about SRH matters was found to be low and thus, recommends collaborative parent-adolescent interventions to address it accordingly. Implications: This study has addressed a very important topic to reveal an unclear understanding of the prevalence of parent-adolescent communication practices regarding SRH matters alongside associated determinants in Tanzania. The findings of this study may give a reliable and high probability estimate of the impact of PBP on enhancing parent-adolescent communication about SRH issues for safe sexual behaviour among adolescents in Tanzania. Limitations: Being a study that assessed sensitive topics and experiences of parent-adolescent communications about SRH matters among adolescents there might be some degrees of recall bias, under or over information from them, though not to a higher degree. Additionally, the methods and materials used in this study might not be sufficiently and accurately documented to allow replication studies.