Assessment of Parental Involvement in Addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health Problems among Adolescents an a Rural Village in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive health (ASRH) is an integral part of wellbeing. The extent and manner of parental involvement in ASRH determine the prevention of adolescents high-risk sexual behaviours. Objective of the current study was to assess the level of Parental Involvement in addressing selected sexual and reproductive health problems among adolescents. A descriptive study was conducted among adolescents between the ages of 10 to 16 years and their own mothers. Seventy two adolescent - parent pairs were selected by a multistage cluster sampling method in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka. Data were collected by an interviewer administered questionnaire which assessed five dimensions of parental involvement. These dimensions were parental communication and monitoring on reproductive health matters, mere awareness on physical and psychological changes, parent child relationship quality, addressing media influence and peers factors. A scoring system was developed to assess the parental involvement level and thereby four parental involvement groups: Low, moderate, high and very high were formed. Thirty five precent mothers had moderate level of parental involvement while 65% had high level of involvement. None of mothers had low or very high parental involvement levels. Hence parental involvement in overall study sample had a 52.13 mean score. Parent child communication on reproductive health matters, media influence and peer influences showed the lowest mean values. This study highlights the importance of measures targeted to improve the parent adolescent communication and to address media and peers influences on ASRH to improve ASRH in Sri Lanka.