Parenting practices and styles associated with adolescent sexual health in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

Parenting styles and practices are suggested to be important predictors of adolescent sexual health, mostly in Europe and North America. Limited research has been conducted on these processes in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has different patterns of adolescent sexual behavior and family traditions. This study qualitatively explored parenting practices and styles associated with adolescent sexual health in Tanzania, with 12 adolescents and 12 parents of adolescents. The themes we identified from the data included parental monitoring, preventive, and punitive behaviors. Parents were reported to use mostly punitive behaviors to correct or prohibit sexual behavior; parents also set clear rules about appropriate sexual behavior (e.g., modesty and abstinence). Parents were also reported to closely monitor their adolescent children’s friendships and sexual behavior to minimize sexual behavior. However, some parents also engaged in positive preventive practices aimed at protecting their adolescent children.

KEYWORDS:

• Tanzania
• sexual behavior
• adolescent
• parenting practices
• parenting styles

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. Leif E. Aaro for his coordination of the project which mostly funded this work. The full title of the project is “Promoting sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in southern and eastern Africa- mobilizing schools, parents and communities” with the acronym: PREPARE. The authors also wish to thank Doreen Bangapi, Happy Karungula, Anna Kaale, and Agape Minja for their important contribution. Last but not least, are the adolescents and parents who agreed to be interviewed for this study for their time and candid responses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by University of Bergen, Norway from the European Union (7th Framework Program, HEALTH2009, Contract Number 241945). The first author was also funded in the analysis of data by the Tanzanian Committee for Science and Technology (COSTECH).