The Effect of Living Arrangements and Parental Attachment on Sexual Risk behaviors and Psychosocial Problems of Adolescents in Dessie Preparatory School, Ethiopia
Creators: name: Shiferaw, Solomon
Publisher: name: National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia
Year: 2004

description: The family environment is critical in supporting healthy adolescent development. Following the opening of technical and preparatory schools in Ethiopia, it has become necessary for students particularly of the rural areas to move to the nearby towns for the duration of their training. However, whether adolescents who come from rural areas (who might lack consistent adult supervision and exposed to a relatively new environment) are having an elevated sexual-risk taking behavior and more psychosocial problems remain unanswered. In an attempt to respond to questions posed on these differential vulnerabilities of adolescents, a comparative cross-sectional study that examined the effect of living arrangement and parent-teen connectedness on sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial problems of students was conducted in Dessie preparatory school, Ethiopia. A sample of 667 students (512 male and 155 female) completed a pre-tested structured anonymous questionnaire. Qualitative information was obtained from four focus group discussions and sixteen peer-to-peer interviews segregated by gender and residence. We found that living with friends (OR=2.77; 95%CI=1.47, 5.24), alcohol consumption (OR=1.94; 95%CI =1.24, 3.04), lower perceived family connectedness (OR=0.97; 95%CI=0.95, 0.99) and parental monitoring (OR=1.70; 95%CI=1.06, 2.73), older age (OR=4.37; 95%CI=2.11, 9.04), having peer pressure (OR=1.82; 95%CI=1.20, 2.77) and peers who are sexually experienced were associated with increased odds of sexual activity. Having a depressive symptom was associated with female gender (OR=1.96; 95%CI=1.18, 3.23) , lower family connectedness (OR=0.96; 95%CI=0.94, 0.99), lower grade-pointaverage (OR=1.93; 95%CI=1.01, 3.71), and living with friends (OR=3.16; 95%CI=1.66, 5.00), relatives (OR=2.52; 95%CI=1.28, 4.95) or alone (OR=2.15; 95%CI=1.04, 4.46). The study revealed that suicide attempt in the past 12 months was linked to having a history of suicide attempt in the family (OR=2.59; 95%CI=1.09, 6.15) or among friends (OR=4.32; 95%CI=1.88, 9.94), female gender (OR=2.60; 95%CI=1.05, 6.48) and sexual activity (OR=3.00; 95%CI=1.27, 7.11). viii The overall research finding indicate that living with both biological parents and good parentteen connectedness are related to better psychosocial health and being sexually abstinent. The evidence from this study suggests that parents need to know the continued importance of having good relationship with their adolescents. Youth programs should also address the central role of familial influences (specifically high levels of parental connectedness and monitoring) in protecting boys and girls from unsafe sexual behavior and psychosocial problems. Additional research needs to explore the impact of familial influences on adolescent reproductive and psychosocial health and preferably use longitudinal designs to determine the stability of the observed association over time. Key words: Adolescents, living Arrangements, parental attachment, sexual risk behaviors psychosocial problems, Ethiopia.