Factors associated with students' support for school-based reproductive health education in Lebanon -

Abstract

Reproductive Health (RH) education provision in schools is one of the key strategies to promote young people's sexual and RH through encouraging gender equality and empowerment of women and reducing maternal mortality by decreasing unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion (UNESCO, 2009). Recently, in Lebanon, new HIV and RH topics were integrated into the national secondary school curriculum (UNAIDS, 2012). This curriculum however is not yet fully implemented at the school level. The Global School Health Survey (GSHS) is a school-based survey of students aged 13-15 years. It provides a nationally representative view of students' attitudes and behavior in both public and private schools concerning several topics through a self-administered questionnaire (WHO et al., 2007).In this study, we have used a mixed method approach to examine the factors associated with middle school students' support for RHE or lack thereof. The quantitative phase of our study aimed at determining the prevalence of support for school-based RHE and the main factors associated with it among adolescents in grades 7-9 (11-16 years old) based on the most recent GSHS conducted in 2011 in Lebanon. The qualitative component complemented the quantitative phase of the study through in-depth interviews conducted with a convenience sample of middle school students in Lebanon. The aim of the qualitative phase was to elicit grade 7-9 students' understanding of and expectations about RHE and to explore their support or lack thereof for RHE among a sample of students from private and public schools in Lebanon.The statistical analysis of the GSHS 2011 allowed us to identify trends differentiating students who support RHE from those who do not, after controlling for many variables. The variables included in the final model were related to socio-demographics, risky behaviors, preferences and previous exposure to RHE. In the qualitative phase of the study, the in-depth interviews revealed the lack of a clear, broad and common understanding of the term RHE a