Reproductive Health Risk and Protective Factors among Unmarried Youth in Ghana

• Published in: International family planning perspectives 2003-03, Vol.29 (1), p.14-24
• Main Authors: Karim, Ali Mehryar, Magnani, Robert J., Morgan, Gwendolyn T., Bond, Katherine C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Adult; AIDS; AIDS (Disease); Birth control; Child; Communication; Condoms; Condoms - utilization; Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Families & family life; Family members; Family planning; Female; Gender; Gender Identity; Gender roles; Ghana; Health; Health aspects; Health conditions; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Health Surveys; HIV; HIV infection; Households; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Interviews; Male; Males; Mating behavior; Multivariate Analysis; Peer Group; Population; Pregnancy; Prevention; Questionnaires; Regression Analysis; Reproductive health; Risk factors; Risk-Taking; Safe Sex - statistics & numerical data; Self Efficacy; Serology; Sex; Sexual behavior; Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations; Sexually transmitted diseases; Single Person; Social conditions; Social Identification; Socioeconomic Factors; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Statistics; Teenagers; Use; Young adults; Youth
• ISSN: 0190-3187; 1944-0391; 1943-4154; 1944-0405
• DOI: 10.2307/3180997

Context: In Ghana, as in many other Sub-Saharan African countries, the behaviors of the current cohort of adolescents will strongly influence the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This study sought to identify factors associated with elevated risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection among unmarried Ghanaian youth. Methods: A nationally representative sample of 3,739 unmarried 12-24-year-olds were surveyed. Various regression techniques were used to assess the effects of individual and contextual factors on sexual behavior and condom use. Results: Forty-one percent of female and 36% of male youth reported being sexually experienced. On average, sexually experienced youth had had fewer than two partners; only 4% of these females and 11% of males had had more than one sexual partner in the three months before the survey. Although Ghanaian youth are knowledgeable about condoms, only 24% of sexually experienced males and 20% of females reported consistent condom use with their current or most recent partner. A sizable number of contextual factors and attributes of youth themselves were associated with sexual behaviors, while individual characteristics were stronger predictors of condom use. Conclusions: The findings provide further justification for interventions targeting key contextual factors that influence youth behaviors in addition to providing youth with necessary communication, negotiation and other life skills. /// [Spanish] Contexto: En Ghana, al igual que en muchos otros países del África Subsahariana, la conducta de la actual generatión de adolescentes tendrá una gran influencia en la propagatión de la epidemia del VIH-SIDA. Este estudio procuró identificar los factores relacionados con los elevados riesgos de embarazo y de infecciones transmitidas sexualmente entre los jóvenes no casados de ese país. Métodos: Se realizó una encuesta a nivel national con una muestra de 3.739 jóvenes no casados de 12-24 años de edad. Se utilizaron varias técnicas de análisis de regresión para evaluar los efectos de los factores individuales y de contexto con respecto a las conductas sexuales y el uso del condón. Resultados: El 41% de las mujeres y el 36% de los hombres indicaron que tenían experiencia sexual. En promedio, los que tenían experiencia sexual habían tenido relaciones con menos de dos parejas; solamente el 4% de estas mujeres y el 11% de dichos hombres habían tenido más de una pareja sexual durante los tres meses previos a la encuesta. Si bien