Parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health in rural Tanzania: Implications for young people's sexual health interventions

This study employed an ethnographic research design. Data collection involved eight weeks of participant observation, 17 focus group discussions and 46 in-depth interviews conducted with young people aged 14-24 years and parents of young people in this age group. Thematic analysis was conducted with the aid of NVIVO 7 software.Parent-child communication about SRH happened in most families. The communication was mainly on same sex basis (mother-daughter and rarely father-son or father-daughter) and took the form of warnings, threats and physical discipline. Communication was triggered by seeing or hearing something a parent perceived negative and would not like their child to experience (such as a death attributable to HIV and unmarried young person's pregnancy). Although most young people were relaxed with their mothers than fathers, there is lack of trust as to what they can tell their parents for fear of punishment. Parents were limited as to what they could communicate about SRH because of lack of appropriate knowledge and cultural norms that restricted interactions between opposite sex.Due to the consequences of the HIV pandemic, parents are making attempts to communicate with their children about SRH. They are however, limited by cultural barriers, and lack of appropriate knowledge. With some skills training on communication and SRH, parents may be a natural avenue for channeling and reinforcing HIV/AIDS prevention messages to their children.Sexual activity places young people in Tanzania at an increased risk of infection with Human Immunodeficiency syndrome virus (HIV), other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as the potential for unplanned pregnancy [1]. As in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), sexual activity begins early in Tanzania. By age 15, 11% of the girls and boys have had sex (ibid). In Tanzania, rates of condom use among young people are generally low [2]. In the 2003-04 Tanzania HIV/AIDS Indicator survey (THIS), although over half