Relationships between attachment to parents and risky sexual behaviors among adolescent girls in the Centre region of Burkina Faso

Abdoul Kader Ilboudo, Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP)
Nathalie Sawadogo, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, ISSP

Adolescent girls are more likely than their male counterparts and elders to engage in sexual practices with a high risk of HIV/AIDS infection and early or unwanted pregnancies. Studies showing that families do not seem to prepare adolescents sufficiently for responsible sexuality recommend that parents should be involved if sexual and reproductive health programs are to succeed. In order to analyze the relationships between attachment to parents and sexual risk behaviors among adolescent girls, the mixed data used come from a cross-sectional study conducted in Burkina Faso in 2022. Preliminary results show that communication between adolescent girls and their parents about sexuality is positively associated with delayed sexual debut and condom use during sexual intercourse among adolescents girls, and that because of the taboo surrounding sexuality, the majority of parents who took part in the qualitative survey do not have accurate information about sexuality and are not sufficiently confident in their skills to properly educate their children about sexuality and prevention. Therefore, it’s appropriate to implement interventions that would work with parents to provide them with all the necessary information on sexual and reproductive health as well as the necessary tools to better educate adolescents.

Keywords: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Children, Adolescents, and Youth

See extended abstract.