Improving the Reproductive Health of Families

Youth in Botswana face extraordinary challenges as they transition through adolescence. High rates of teen pregnancy force girls to drop out of school after which few resume their education. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are prevalent and the country has the 3rd highest Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence in the world, with incidence increasing rapidly among adolescents 15-19, peaking at 40.2% HIV seroprevalence at ages 30-34. Traditional methods for sex education through village initiation schools are no longer available and parents are not comfortable with discussions addressing reproductive health within the family. As a result, adolescents have no conduit to educate them about healthy sexual development. This study will recruit 456 families, ½ with a male and ½ with a female adolescent. Families will be randomized to one of three intervention arms. Parents will participate in Families Matter 2! (FM2) and adolescents in Living as a Safer Teen (LAST), both evidence-based interventions that were adapted and pilot tested in Botswana during an earlier R34 award. In Arm 1, the parent will participate in FM2 immediately and the youth will participate in LAST six months later. In Arm 2, both the parent and youth will participant in their respective interventions simultaneously. In Arm 3, the comparison condition, participants will be offered the interventions immediately after the final assessment. Each adolescent and parent will complete assessments in English or Setswana at baseline, post-intervention, and 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Results from a pilot trial of the adapted interventions suggest that these interventions may result in improved family communications, child management skills, knowledge of sexual development, more favorable attitudes toward contraception, less tolerance for intergenerational transactional sex, greater rejection of gender violence, and lower rates of sexual risk behavior by both parents and adolescents. It is further anticipated that youths who are abstinent upon entering the intervention will delay sexual debut to a greater extent than youth in the comparison arm. This proposed study addresses the highest priority in Botswana's current national strategic plan: preventing early pregnancy, STIs and HIV in adolescents. If the proposed randomized controlled trial (RCT) provides strong evidence of effectiveness, the investigators will work with the Ministries of Education, Health, Youth & Culture and the Office of the President to disseminate the intervention throughout Botswana.