Reliability, Validity, and Associations With Sexual Behavior Among Ghanaian Teenagers of Scales Measuring Four Dimensions of Relationships With Parents and Other Adults

Abstract

Little research has been done on the social contexts of adolescent sexual behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of a longitudinal cohort study (N=1275) of teenage girls and boys in two Ghanaian towns, interviewers administered a 26 item questionnaire module intended to assess four dimensions of youth-adult relationships: monitoring conflict, emotional support, and financial support. Confirmatory factor and traditional psychometric analyses showed the four scales to be reliable. Known-groups comparisons provided evidence of their validity. All four scales had strong bivariate associations with self-reported sexual behavior (odds ratios = 1.66, 0.74, 0.47, and 0.60 for conflict, support, monitoring, and financial support). The instrument is practical for use in sub-Saharan African settings and produces measures that are reliable, valid, and predictive of sexual behavior in youth.

The dynamic interdependence between family support and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Ghana

“…Seven items from the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden and Greenberg 1987) and the Network of Relationships Inventory (Furman and Buhrmester 2009) were adapted to measure family support in a manner reflecting the importance of extended family kin in Ghana (Bingenheimer et al 2015). Each item begins with the phrase, “There is an adult in your life who…”, and end with: “comforts you”, “gives you advice”, “praises you”, “gives you attention”, “encourages you”, “trusts you”, and “understands you”.…”

“…Greater parental monitoring and closer, more nurturing parent–youth relationships are associated with less self-reported sexual risk behavior among youth in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries (Biddlecom et al 2009; Bingenheimer et al 2015). As adolescent sexual risk often co-occurs with adolescent mental health, it is reasonable to consider how family processes may influence changes in depressive symptoms over the course of adolescence for youth in sub-Saharan Africa.…”

What are the characteristics of ‘sexually ready’ adolescents? Exploring the sexual readiness of youth in urban poor Accra

“…their education and income) are linked to adolescents’ sexuality [ 38 ]. In the literature, parents with high levels of education and/or income are seen to offer closeness, warmth, monitoring and protection [ 38 , 39 ]. This has been linked to less sexual activity among adolescents and accordingly suggests less “assertive” and “agentic” sexual self-views.…”

Risk for Coerced Sex Among Female Youth in Ghana: Roles of Family Context, School Enrollment and Relationship Experience

“…They were developed from preexisting instruments, 72–75 and their psychometric properties have been described elsewhere. 51 The behavioral control scale consists of six items (e.g., “There is an adult in your life who knows where you are at night”) and has a Cronbach's alpha of 0.73. The relationship quality scale consists of nine items (e.g., “There is an adult in your life who listens to you”) and has a Cronbach's alpha of 0.80.…”

“…50,51 Conversely, several U.S. studies 46,52,53 have shown that conflict with parents is associated with sexual activity and involvement in romantic relationships. These associations may reflect processes in which females who have lower-quality relationships with their parents or family adults, and who experience more conflict with these individuals, are more likely to form romantic and sexual relationships with young men as a means of getting emotional support and validation that they do not receive from their families.…”