The importance of considering wider contexts when evaluating the success or failure of programs has been increasingly acknowledged with the shift towards culturally responsive evaluation. But one of the important advantages of contextual approaches has been mostly overlooked--that they can provide more "realist" evaluations for why…

The study examined gender and age differences in the relationship between sensation seeking and sexual risk behaviors among secondary school students in Kenya. The study was conducted in Kisumu Municipality. Kisumu was chosen as it is one of the leading regions in HIV prevalence, estimated at 15%. The HIV prevalence was assumed to indicate a…

Peer education is a widely used strategy in sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programmes for young people, yet measurement of its effectiveness often focuses on a narrow set of outcomes. This qualitative study explored how peer education was integrated into the "Get Up, Speak Out for Youth Rights!" (GUSO) programme in Kisumu…

This dissertation aimed at examining the predictors of HPV vaccination intentions of college students in a Kenyan university and those in a Midwest university in the United States of America (USA). Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the dissertation investigated the most salient factors that predict the vaccination intentions of college…

In this study, we explored how adolescents in rural Kenya apply religious coping in sexual decision-making in the context of high rates of poverty and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 adolescents. One-third (13) reported religious coping related to economic stress, HIV, or sexual…

School-based programmes to combat the spread of HIV have been demonstrated to be effective over the short-term when delivered on a small scale. The question addressed here is whether results obtained with small-scale delivery are replicable in large-scale roll-out. Primary School Action for Better Health (PSABH), a programme to train teachers to…

Transactional sex, or the exchange of money and gifts for sexual activities within nonmarital relationships, has been widely considered a contributing factor to the disproportionate prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study applied social exchange theory to premarital relationships in order to investigate the…

Background: Correct and consistent condom use is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study examines sociodemographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics of 3 groups of adolescent males: consistent, sporadic, and non-condom users. Methods: The sample consisted of 931 sexually…

Background: This study examines the relationship between sexual behavior, alcohol use, and indicators of psychosocial distress (mental health) of adolescents in 6 sub-Saharan African countries using the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). Methods: The sample consisted of 22,949 adolescents from Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda,…

The disappearance of traditional sex education during rites of passage in African societies has left many youth uncertain of where to look for information. Against this backcloth, the objectives of this study were to identify knowledge gaps amongst adolescents in Kenya regarding sexuality, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. A thematic analysis was…

I use a randomized experiment to test whether information can change sexual behavior among teenagers in Kenya. Providing information on the relative risk of HIV infection by partner's age led to a 28% decrease in teen pregnancy, an objective proxy for the incidence of unprotected sex. Self-reported sexual behavior data suggests substitution away…

The high level of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa has led to an increased interest in understanding the determinants of sexual activity among young people, who are at high risk of sexually transmitted infections. The present study examined sociodemographic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors associated with heterosexual activity among a…

Although there seems to be a high level of awareness of the HIV and AIDS menace among the youth, their behavior does not reflect this level of awareness. There seems to be a mismatch between HIV and AIDS Programme objectives and behavior change among the youth. However, this level of mismatch has not been established for effective intervention…

In Kenya alone, where the infection rate is estimated to have reached 13 percent of the population, 27,000 teachers will die and more than 2 million children will lose one or both parents to AIDS in the next five years. The Kenyan project uses "study circles," in which teachers learn together about HIV, script new sexual behaviors for…

This study examined the impact of a primary-school HIV education initiative on the knowledge, self-efficacy and sexual and condom use activities of upper primary-school pupils in Kenya. A quasi-experimental mixed qualitative-quantitative pre- and 18-month post-design using 40 intervention and 40 matched control schools demonstrated significant…