Abstract
Background: Globally, adolescent pregnancies pose serious public health issues, especially in low and middle-income nations like Ghana. Parental attitudes towards contraception significantly impact adolescents' access to and use of contraceptive services. This study aims to assess parental support in the uptake of contraception among adolescents within Tamale Metropolis.
Methods: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach using consecutive sampling was used. This was conducted using parents or guardians of adolescents in the Tamale Metropolis. A total of 424 parents were recruited using a consecutive sampling method. The sample size for the study was determined using the Snedecor and Cochran (1989) formulae using a margin of error of 5%. A 10% non-response rate was also calculated and added to the sample size. The data was collected from December 1, 2023, to February 28th, 2024. The data analysis was done using SPSS version 27 with P<0.05.
Results: Many parents (68.2%) had ever patronized contraceptive services and 61.1% would recommend contraceptives to their children aged 16 and above. A majority of the parents (83.9%) agreed that it is imperative for youngsters to have access to contraceptives, and 67.5% expressed comfort in discussing contraceptive methods with their adolescent children. Variables such as educational level (p=0.007), occupation (p=0.001), spouse’s/partner’s education level (p= 0.025), having heard of contraceptive methods (p= 0.001), and having ever utilized family planning services (p= 0.024) were significantly associated with parents' willingness to recommend contraceptives to their children.
Conclusion: The study revealed positive attitudes of parents towards contraceptive use among adolescents. The majority of parents expressed willingness to recommend contraceptives to their adolescent children. Therefore, to improve contraceptive use among adolescents, it is important to increase parental education on contraception to maintain their positive attitudes toward contraceptive utilization.
Keywords:
Contraception, parental support, adolescent pregnancies, adolescent, GhanaReferences
. Singh JA, Siddiqi M, Parameshwar P, Chandra-Mouli V. World Health Organization guidance on ethical considerations in planning and reviewing research studies on sexual and reproductive health in adolescents. J Adolesc Heal. 2019;64(4):427-9.
. Sawyer SM, Azzopardi PS, Wickremarathne D, Patton GC. The age of adolescence… and young adulthood–Authors' reply. Lancet child Adolesc Heal. 2018;2(4):e7.
. Pietras J, Jarząbek-Bielecka G, Mizgier M, Markowska A. Adolescent pregnancy–medical, legal and social issues. J Matern Neonatal Med. 2024;37(1):2391490.
. CITI newsroom. Teenage pregnancies in Ghana hit 555,575 in five years. Accra, Ghana. 2021.
. Sobngwi-Tambekou JL, Tsague-Agnoux M, Fezeu LK, Ndonko F. Teenage childbearing and school dropout in a sample of 18,791 single mothers in Cameroon. Reproductive Health. 2022;19(1):10.
. Amoadu M, Ansah EW, Assopiah P, Acquah P, Ansah JE, Berchie E et al. Socio-cultural factors influencing adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: a scoping review. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022;22(1):834.
. Stoner MC, Rucinski KB, Edwards JK, Selin A, Hughes JP, Wang J et al. The relationship between school dropout and pregnancy among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: A HPTN 068 analysis. Heal Educ Behav. 2019;46(4):559-68.
. Masterson AM, Neild WP, Freedman H. Relationship between early pregnancy and school dropout among adolescent girls in Arkansas, USA. J Educ. 2021;4(7):10-9.
. Olika AK, Kitila SB, Terfa YB, Olika AK. Contraceptive use among sexually active female adolescents in Ethiopia: trends and determinants from national demographic and health surveys. Reprod Health. 2021;18(1):104.
. Jensen JT, Creinin MD. Family planning, population growth, and the environment. Contraception. 2020;101(3):145-7.
. Gbagbo FY. Contraceptive use among basic school pupils in Ghana: a case study of a municipality. Int J Pediatr. 2020;2020(1):7521096.
. Beckham SW, Stockton M, Galai N, Davis W, Mwambo J, Likindikoki S et al. Family planning use and correlates among female sex workers in a community empowerment HIV prevention intervention in Iringa, Tanzania: a case for tailored programming. BMC Public Health. 2021;21:1-1.
. Moucheraud C, McBride K, Heuveline P, Shah M. Preventing, but Not caring for, adolescent Pregnancies? Disparities in the quality of reproductive health care in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2022;71(2):210-6.
. Dioubaté N, Manet H, Bangoura C, Sidibé S, Kouyaté M, Kolie D et al. Barriers to contraceptive use among urban adolescents and youth in Conakry, in 2019, Guinea. Front Glob Women’s Heal. 2021;2:655929.
. Ehiaghe AD, Barrow A. Parental knowledge, willingness, and attitude towards contraceptive usage among their unmarried adolescents in Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. Int J Reprod Med. 2022;2022(1):8533174.
. Boamah-Kaali EA, Mevissen FE, Owusu-Agyei S, Enuameh Y, Asante KP, Ruiter RA. A qualitative exploration of factors explaining non-uptake of hormonal contraceptives among adolescent girls in rural Ghana: the adolescent girls’ perspective. Open Access J Contracept. 2021:173-85.
. GSS. Tamale metropolis. Dist Anal Rep Tamale Metrop. 2014.
. Fuseini I, Yaro JA, Yiran GA. City profile: Tamale, Ghana. Cities. 2017;60:64-74.
. Derefinko KJ, Ashby S, Hayes T, Kaplan C, Bursac Z, García FI et al. Sexually transmitted infections and contraceptive use in adolescents. Am J Prev Med. 2020;58(4):536-46.
. Hadnott TN, Stark SS, Medica A, Dietz AC, Martinez ME, Whitcomb BW et al. Perceived infertility and contraceptive use in the female, reproductive-age cancer survivor. Fertil Steril. 2019;111(4):763-71.
. Donkor AK, Lariba AL. The Impact of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancy in Basic Schools of Bawku Municipal District in Ghana. Online Submission. 2017;3(3):214-21.
. Maslowsky J, Stritzel H, Gershoff ET. Post-Pregnancy Factors Predicting Teen Mothers’ Educational Attainment by Age 30 in Two National Cohorts. Youth Soc. 2022;54(8):1377-401.
. Widman L, Choukas-Bradley S, Noar SM, Nesi J, Garrett K. Parent-adolescent sexual communication and adolescent safer sex behavior: A meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics. 2016;170(1):52-61.
. Boivin J, Carrier J, Zulu JM, Edwards D. A rapid scoping review of fear of infertility in Africa. Reprod Health. 2020;17:1-3.
. Mwaisaka J, Wado YD, Ouedraogo R, Oduor C, Habib H, Njagi J et al. “Those are things for married people” exploring parents’/adults’ and adolescents’ perspectives on contraceptives in Narok and Homa Bay Counties, Kenya. Reprod Health. 2021;18:1-3.
. Tuyisenge G, Hategeka C, Aguilera RA. Should condoms be available in secondary schools? Discourse and policy dilemma for safeguarding adolescent reproductive and sexual health in Rwanda. Pan Afr Med J. 2018;31(1).
. Baltag V and Chandra-Mouli V. Adolescent pregnancy: sexual and reproductive health; in International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy. Springer. 2014:55–78.
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 DR. Abdulai Abdul-Malik , Tahiru Bonmenga, Lukman Ziblim, Victoria Galo, Osman Abu Iddrisu, Rhubamatu Iddrisu, Mohammed Iddrisu, Letitia Chanayireh, Mulika Fasasi, Abass Yakubu, Samson Alhassan, Farouk Amidu, Mudasir Mohammed Ibrahim
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright© by the author(s). Published by the Evidence Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Abudl Malik Abdulai, Osman Abu Iddrisu, Abdul Hakeem Iddrisu, Abdul-Khahar Osman, Saidatu Ayisha Abubakari, Mudasir Mohammed Ibrahim, Rhubamatu Iddrisu, Abass Yakubu, Mulika Fasasi, Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of contraceptives among adolescents and young adults in Ghana , The Evidence: Vol. 2 No. 2 (2024): APR - JUN
