Abstract
In Ghana, research reports indicate that parent–child communication on sex education is generally lacking even though sexual matters are among the popular topics for conversation, gossip, popular music, dance and jokes. Attempts are made by a few schools to incorporate sex education into topics in Biology, Social Studies and Core Science. This is, however, done on few occasions, and consequently adolescents have insufficient knowledge about the consequences of sexual behaviours. This results in early initiation into sex by many adolescents who copy blindly from TV and from the Internet undesirable sexual behaviours leading to undesirable consequences. This implies that the sources from which adolescents obtain sex information can affect their sexual behaviour. To find out the effect of sex information sources on adolescent sexual behaviour, a survey questionnaire was administered to a probabilistic sample of 340 students and followed with focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. The results showed a strong positive correlation between interpersonal sources of sex-related information and age at first sexual encounter. The study, therefore, provided the bases for recommendations for policy and practice.
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Acknowledgements
We, the authors, wish to express our profound gratitude to the Heads and students of Kumasi Academy, KNUST Senior High School, St. Louis Girls Senior High School, Prempeh College, Elite College and Assemblies of God Senior High School for their respective approval and voluntary participation in the study.
Funding
This research was co-funded by the researchers using their own income and resources without any external grants. There are no interests or conflict of interest to be disclosed. Thank you.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in whatever form. A declaration has been signed and attached by all three authors to that effect. Thank you.
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For this study, the school authorities gave verbal consent approving the conduct of the study with the adolescent students after having examined the research questions, objectives and instruments. Both the authors and school authorities agreed on principle not to take, keep or publish any information about the identity of the students who volunteered as respondents in this study. It was also agreed with the school authorities not to video record the FGDs. Audio recording was, however, permitted. Therefore, there was no need for Ethical Clearance. Thank you.
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Kanwetuu, V.P., Mokulogo, R.K. & Azumah, F.D. Understanding Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviour in Ghana: Information Sources and Their Effects. Sexuality & Culture 22, 942–961 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9509-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9509-3