SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF NON-MARITAL ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY IN NKWANTA SOUTH DISTRICT

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a period of biological, psychological and social transformations as a child transits to adulthood. Thus adolescents, including those in Nkwanta South district, are vulnerable to themselves and the environment.

OBJECTIVES: This study identified the social determinants of non-marital adolescent pregnancy in terms of formal education, adolescent parent and peer relationships.

METHODS: The study was a community based cross sectional research. Two communities were selected from each of the four sub-districts of Nkwanta South District. All adolescents in alternate houses were interviewed with questionnaires until the required number was obtained. A total of 242 adolescents were analysed using Stata 11.0. Frequency tables were generated and logistic regression was used to generate odds ratios. Significance was set at a p-value of 0.05.

RESULTS: About 11% of the respondents have no education and 79.8% were in school. Non-marital adolescent pregnancy prevalence in the district was about 17.8%. The odds of pregnancy showed a decreasing trend as an adolescent goes up the educational levels and the odds of pregnancy was significantly high among those with poor parental and peer relationships after adjusting for other factors (OR: 3.20 and 5.31).

CONCLUSION: Non-marital adolescent pregnancy is relatively high in Nkwanta South district and is significantly associated with no or low levels of education, poor parental relationship and poor peer relationship. Parents should be encouraged to develop personal relationship with their children and be made to understand the benefits of girls’ education and their roles as stakeholders in the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy in Ghana.

Future research should look into parental perspectives on non-marital adolescent pregnancy and its prevention.

KEY WORDS: Adolescent pregnancy, Peer relationships, Nkwanta South District.