Parental influence and adolescent sexual behavior among teenagers: a case of Ishongororo Subcounty, Ibanda District

Abstract

One of the aims of social work as a discipline is to improve the quality of life of families by finding solutions to inherent problems such as sexual behavior in the adolescent. This study investigated the rationale of parental influence on adolescents’ sexual behavior in Ishongororo sub county, Ibanda District in Western Uganda. A cross sectional research design was adopted and a total of 200 people were sampled although 185 participated giving a response rate of 92.5%. Participants were selected through purposive sampling method. The primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires and interviews while secondary data was collected through documentary analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Analysis was done using Quantitative data was analyzed by importing it into the Microsoft excel software, summarized and presented in form of frequency tables and percentages while qualitative data was divided into themes and subjected to analysis to supplement the quantitative data. Many of the adolescents were found to be close to both parents, of which were closer to their mothers. Of the participants already had a boyfriend/girlfriend, had kissed and had previously had sexual intercourse as at time of the review. Most of the adolescents’ parents never had the knowledge of theses happenings in the life of the participants. Monitoring measures adopted by parents included standing rules, banning from visiting opposite sex, stay-at-home order, and tracing adolescents’ movements when they go out and timing their outings. Some of the avenue’s participants employed in accessing their sexual partners despite parental monitoring include: when sent on errands, during school periods, sneaking out of the home and lying to their parents to see boyfriend/girlfriend. A significant relationship was found between adolescents’ sexual behavior and parental communication and parental monitoring. The study recommended increased parental involvement in communication and monitoring of adolescent sexual behavior, bearing in mind the consequences of risky sexual behaviors on the adolescents’ health and the society at large.