Community perspectives on parental influence on engagement in multiple concurrent sexual partnerships among youth in Tanzania: Implications for HIV prevention programming

Abstract

Although concurrent sexual partnerships (CPs) have been hypothesized to be an important risk factor for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, the social and cultural factors that encourage CPs are not well understood. This study explored the community's perspectives on the role that parents can play in influencing their children's decision to engage in CPs. We conducted 16 in-depth interviews, 32 focus group discussions, and 16 key informant interviews with 280 adult participants in Tanzania. Data were coded; findings and conclusions were developed based on themes that emerged from coding. Three parental influences on CPs emerged: parent–child communication about sex, both silent and explicit encouragement of CPs, and parental behavior modeling. Parents are typically either too busy or too “embarrassed” to talk with their children about sex and CPs. The information parents do give is often confusing, fear-based, inadequate, and/or only focused on daughters. Parents themselves also encourage CPs through complicity of silence when their daughters come home with extra cash or consumer goods. In some cases, parents overtly encourage their children, particularly daughters, to practice CPs due to the promise of money from wealthy partners. Finally, when parents engage in CPs, the children themselves learn to behave similarly. These results suggest that parents can influence their children's decision to engage in CPs. HIV prevention interventions should address this by promoting parent–child communication about sexuality; associated disease risks and gender-equitable relationships; promoting positive parental role modeling; and educating parents on the implications of encouragement of CPs in their children.

Keywords:

• concurrent sexual partnerships
• parent–child communication
• Tanzania
• sexual behavior
• youth

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out while the corresponding author was an independent consultant. The development of this article was supported by USAID|Project SEARCH, Task Order No. 2, funded by the US Agency for International Development under Contract No. GHH-I-00-07-00032-00, beginning 30 September 2008, and supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.