ARSH 4: Parental understanding of adolescent issues: parent-adolescent dyad agreement.

OBJECTIVE

To elicit areas of discordance between the parent-adolescent dyad with regard to reproductive sexual health issues using the same questions to both and to elicit the gender sensitivity of the parents.

METHODS

This study was conducted using similar questions for both adolescents and young adults and their parents in three districts of Kerala. Data analysis was done comparing unmarried adolescents and young adults' response to reproductive and sexual health issues and the parental agreement status with their ward's responses.

RESULTS

There were a total of 3,625 parent-unmarried young adults dyads. Parental attitudinal difference towards their sons and daughters on selected parenting issues was observed. With regard to the following reproductive and sexual health problems, (i) knew about menstruation before menarche (64.1%), (ii) got information on hygiene practices from home (80.8%), (iii) have menstrual problems (66.4%), agreement with adolescent response was high, whereas with regard to (i) anxious about adolescent physical and mental changes (29.2%), (ii) received information on reproductive sexual health (RSH) from mother (26.7%), (iii) do not have any abnormal vaginal discharge (46.7%), (iv) parents taken precautions to prevent sexual abuse (17.5%), (v) have been sexually abused (15.6%), agreement with unmarried young adults' response was low and all these differences were statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of 3,625 parent-unmarried adolescents and young adults dyad data showed poor agreement on vital issues like sexual abuse apart from gender inequality favouring sons.