PhD (Public Health) / Department of Public Health / The well-being of adolescents’ population is a major concern to policy makers, educators and
researchers all over the world. Research has shown that adolescents engage in deviant and risky
sexual behaviour, and such behaviour may have consequences for their present or future health.
Likewise, it has been shown that adolescents are also known to conform to societal norms if they
are given proper guidance. In the light of this, the present study proposed to explore and explain
the influence of family dynamics in the occurrence of adolescents deviant and sexual risk
behaviour.
This study involved a sequential explorative, descriptive and analytic mixed method design,
combining both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The study was divided into
three (3) phases. Phase 1 was purely qualitative in nature, where a total of 10 parents and 13
adolescents were engaged in an in-depth interview. Phase 2 was quantitative in nature, using a
cross-sectional analytic design involving 388 adolescents, while Phase 3 was the development of
a public health intervention to mitigate the influence of family dynamics on adolescent deviant and
sexual risk behaviour. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis, while
the quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
version 22. The Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, multinomial and binary logistic regression
were used to compare differences between the dependent and independent variables. The level
of statistical difference was set at p<0.05.
Couple conflicts was a common finding in the study. In addition, many families suffered severe
financial constraints and some parents were disconnected from their children physically,
emotionally and financially (particularly the fathers). Adolescents claim that the age difference
between them and their parents remains a barrier to communication, in addition, some
participants claimed that they received little or no sex education from their parents. The present
study found a high level of recent physical violence (30%), alcohol (52.9%) and drug use (10%)
among participants. The level of sexual activity in this study was high, with 60.1% of the
participants being sexually active and 23.1% having been pregnant. In addition, only 35.6% using
condoms regularly. There was gender difference among participants on the following variables:
cigarette smoking, teenage pregnancy and having multiple sexual partners. Furthermore,
participants differed significantly across age group on the following variables: cigarette smoking,
sexual activity, having friends who are sexually active, reported pregnancy and currently having
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a relationship. However, ‘relationship with mother’ was the family dynamic variable that recorded
a wider effect on deviant and sexual risk behaviour. Furthermore, age, duration of stay in the
community, living with siblings, relationship with mother, having enough money at home, being
supported emotionally at home and parental love for each other, were predictors of deviant and
sexual risk behaviour in the present study. There was also low level of risk perception and low
level of skill for self-protection among the participants. As part of the objectives of the present
study, the study findings were used to develop an evidence-based public health programme
targeted at vulnerable adolescents and adolescents at high risk for deviant and sexual risk
behaviour. It is hoped that this programme will be able to empower parents and caregivers to
apply better parenting practices to forestall undue exposure of adolescents to factors that
contribute to deviant and sexual risk behaviour.
The present study demonstrated that although adolescents have the propensity for deviant
behaviours, many may transit to adulthood without much adverse sequelae even in the face of
harsh family social and economic adversities. However, a proportion of the adolescent population
in this community remains vulnerable due to the effects of family de-structuring, poverty and
unemployment. / NRF
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:univen/oai:univendspace.univen.ac.za:11602/1100 |
| Date | 18 May 2018 |
| Creators | Anyanwu, Felix Chima |
| Contributors | Akinsola, H. A., Tugli, A. K. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | I online resource (xvii, 247 leaves : color illustrations) |
| Rights | University of Venda |
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