Parental Involvement In Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: A Study Of Nyatike Sub-County, Migori County- Kenya
Abstract
Teenage pregnancy is a global public health problem with medical, psychological, social and demographic
implications most of which negatively affect the future of teenage girls. In view of this, teenage pregnancy has become a
major policy concern for many countries worldwide, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa which has the highest number of
teenage births. Teenage pregnancy however, still remain high in Kenya as well as other countries in Africa and other
parts of the world despite the implementation of prevention interventions targeting comprehensive sex education in
schools and access to birth control methods in the health facilities. Studies reveal that parental involvement is necessary
for effective teenage pregnancy prevention due to the fact that parenting influence acquisition of behavior and social
skills that shape the moral, self-discipline and responsibilities of young ones. This study sought to investigate parental
involvement in teenage pregnancy prevention in Nyatike sub-county, Migori County, Kenya. The study sought to evaluate
the extent to which parent-teen communication prevent teenage pregnancy. The target population was all parents of
teenage girls, who had been residents in the study area for at least two years preceding data collection. Data was collected
using a questionnaire that was administered to 138 parents. The study found that most parents, 66.67% were not
comfortable when discussing sexuality issues with their girls. This translated to only 10.87% of the parents frequently
discussing sex related issues with their children. Findings also revealed that most of the parents 49% were not very close
with their daughters, and 62.32% parents felt that their teenage daughters were not open in sexuality discussions with
them. The chi-square results also revealed that there was no association between parent-teen relational closeness, and
discussion of sexuality issues (ᵪ
2
=0.344 at 2 df and P<0.05). However, there was a weak association between parental
comfort and sexuality discussion (ᵪ
2
=11.547 at 1df and P>0.05 and Cramer’s V of 0.289). Similarly, teenage girls’
openness was also associated with sexuality discussions at (ᵪ2
=8.9222 at 1df and P>0.05 and Cramer’s V of 0.254). The
study therefore concluded that parental involvement in sexuality communication with their daughters is limited in the
study area. The study recommends that the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection through Childrens’ Department
should undertake parent-teen communication workshops in the study area to improve the quality of parent-teen
communication on sexuality issues.
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