Knowledge and Use of Methods to Avoid Pregnancy at First Sex: Patterns and Influence of Family and School Factors among a School Going Sample, in Mukono Uganda

Esther Kaggwa, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The effect of parent functioning and school characteristics on adolescent contraceptive knowledge and use remains limited. With an annual population growth rate of 3.2%, Uganda is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. This study seeks to examine parental and school factors associated with knowledge and use of family planning among youth in 10 randomly selected secondary schools in Mukono, Uganda. Multivariate analysis showed that higher parent child communication on sex/ HIV and a higher level of parent monitoring were associated with higher use of a method at first sex. Students with a higher parent permissiveness score and those with a higher level of communication on sex or HIV with their parents/guardians knew of fewer methods. The number of school sources for health information or attendance at a better performing school was not associated with number of methods known