ADULT-ADOLESCENT COMMUNICATION ABOUT SEXUALITY AND ADOLESCENT SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR: A CASE OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Adolescent sexual health is an issue of concern not only in Kenya but also globally. High levels of adolescent school dropout due to sexual issues has been alarming in the recent past. This study examined how communication about sexuality is carried out by adult caretakers; parents, teachers and the clergy in relation to the adolescents in Nakuru County. The study explored sexuality information sharing process, content and strategies used by adults and assessed the perception of the adolescents regarding the communication they received from the adults. This study had five objectives: to establish the structure of sexuality communication interaction between the adult caretakers and the adolescents in Nakuru County; to examine the content of sexuality information adolescents receive from caretakers in Nakuru County; to establish the strategies that adult caretakers employ in communicating sexuality information with the adolescents in Nakuru County; to determine adolescents’ perception of the sexuality information they received from the adult caretakers in influencing their attitude towards sexual behavior; and finally, to establish adolescents’ response to sexuality information received from adult caretakers in relation to their sexual behavior. The research adopted Rogers Conceptual model on pathways connecting parents and adolescents’ sexuality communication, Systems theory and Symbolic Interactionism theory as the theoretical framework of the study. A pilot study was conducted in a mixed school from Nakuru West to assess the suitability of the tools of the research. Data sets were collected in two sub-counties, Nakuru East and Njoro Sub-counties of Nakuru County to capture views from both urban and rural respondents. The target population consisted of adolescents in secondary schools, parents with adolescents in secondary schools, and the clergy in Nakuru County. Ten schools were judgmentally sampled and one hundred and twenty-eight students randomly selected from the schools. Seventy parents were judgmentally selected, thirty-five from each of the two sub-counties. Thirty teachers were sampled from the selected schools. The guidance and counselling teacher from every school chosen was judgmentally selected while the other two were randomly sampled leading to a total of thirty teachers. Twelve members of the clergy were judgmentally sampled from Mainstream, Pentecostal and SDA churches. In each of these strands, four churches were randomly sampled leading to a total of twelve churches, each providing a single clergy. Data were collected through questionnaires, focus group discussions, interview schedule, observation and researcher’s notes. The findings of the study reveal that the three adult caretakers communicate on sexuality at varying levels based on interest, knowledge and relationship with the adolescents. Consequently, some topics are overemphasized while others are shunned. The findings will help adolescent caretakers to provide more focused and coordinated sexuality communication. Schools, church and other faith based organizations will equally benefit from the findings of this study. Finally, the results could also be used to inform government policy on adolescent sexual health service provision.