Parents' Attitudes toward Adolescent Male's Sexual & Reproductive Health Needs and Practice in Tehran

Objective: Parents are believed to be among the most influential adults who have a deterministic role in the success of interventional programs on adolescents’ reproductive health. The aim of this study is to describe parents' perceptions and attitudes towards adolescent reproductive needs, experiences and associated factors. Method: A population-based study of 539 parents of adolescent boys, aged 15-18 in Tehran was conducted using a self–administered questionnaire. bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with parents' attitudes and their reports of adolescent heterosexual relationships. Results: Higher education, higher income, access to satellite programs and internet were associated with a liberal attitude among parents. Some demographic factors including adolescents' age, lack of adolescents' endorsement to religion, access to satellite programs, parents' drinking, and various family factors such as poor parent-adolescent relationship, conflict, parental low valuation on education, parents' low endorsement to morals, difficult parent-adolescent communication on important issues and finally easy communication about sex, were all among the factors associated with more frequent reports of having a girlfriend over the last year for the adolescent males. Parents' reports on their adolescents' sexual relationships with the opposite sex highlighted a significant gap with the figure reported for the adolescents aged 15-18 in a preceding study in 2002(3% vs. 28%). Conclusion: Parents should be advised to build a good relationship with teens, to maintain a close parent-teen communication, and to discuss morals and values with teens.