Adolescent sexual communication with parents and friends and the timing of sexual debut in urban poor Accra

Nurudeen Alhassan, University of Ghana
Francis Nii-Amoo Dodoo, Pennsylvania State University and University of Ghana

Extant literature reveals that, generally, sexual communication with adolescents is associated with less risky sexual behavior. Meanwhile, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, research on sexual communication and adolescent sexual behavior provides inconclusive results. Some studies find sexual communication to be associated with less risky sexual behavior; others find no association; and some findings are mixed. Most studies do not also examine the relative influence of communication with fathers, mothers, both parents and friends. We examined the relationship between sexual communication with fathers, mothers, both parents and friends and the age at first sex among adolescents. We used data from the Urban Health and Poverty Survey. We found a positive association between sexual communication with friends and the age at first sex whiles communication with fathers, mothers and both parents were not significant. We conclude that friends are an important source of adolescent sexual information and should be integrated into intervention programs.