Adolescents' Sexual and Reproductive Health Behavior Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic in Lurambi Sub-County, Kakamega, Kenya: The Impact of Prior Knowledge

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescents as persons between the age of 10 and 19 years, a majority fitting the age-based definition of a "child" by the Convention on the Child's Rights. Adolescents go through significant physical, physiological, and psychosocial changes from childhood to adulthood during this period. There are indications that during the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents experienced a myriad of challenges as reported by various forms of media. These challenges included teenage pregnancies/ motherhood and early marriages amongst girls, drug and substance abuse, and other social deviancies that came with devastating consequences, notably a surge in school dropout, which shuttered their dreams for a better future. During the outreach activities by the African Women in Science and Engineering (AWSE), MMUST chapter, a gap for research in the realm of Sexual and Reproductive Health of adolescents was established, necessitating this study. The objective guided the study: To establish the adolescents' prior Knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and how this Knowledge shaped their behavior in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The study adopted a Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach, drawing on the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative paradigms. A total of 340 adolescents formed the study sample, and the sampling techniques employed were multi-stage, purposive, stratified, and simple random sampling. The data collection tools included questionnaires, interviews schedules, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Data was collected on the ASRH knowledge base and their behavior within the period of the Covid-19 Pandemic. This was done conscious of the various demographic parameters that are likely to influence adolescents' knowledge and behavior, such as parents' level of education and occupation; Faith of the family, and the gender of the adolescent, among others. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS version 20. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically and used in triangulating quantitative findings. Results showed that 90% of adolescents had Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, an indication that there was a10% knowledge gap. Significant differences were recorded across gender (Chi=4.715, p=0.030); age (Chi=8.775, p=0.012); religion (Chi=10.204, p=0.017) and education level (Chi=14.338, p=0.008), among others. Results further showed that Knowledge on ASRH had a positive impact on adolescents' behavior as a smaller proportion (34.3%) of those with the Knowledge engaged in sexual relationships, compared to 42.9% of those without the Knowledge. Whereas they had Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, it was evident that this did not translate to better behavior as manifested in a surge in unsafe abortions, failure to embrace contraception, and inability to seek appropriate medical care. In this vain, the study recommends empowerment of youth through developing education programs that focus on the needs of adolescent sexual reproductive health and development and implementation of appropriate regulatory frameworks and policies to mitigate the risks and challenges adolescents encounter.