“A Little Bit Closer”: A Mixed Method Analysis of the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lives of Adolescent Parents

Using a Family Stress Model framework, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the impact of the pandemic on Latinx pregnant and parenting adolescents and their families. Participants were 406 adolescents (ages 14–19) in the southwestern U.S. who participated in a school-based relationship education program for pregnant and parenting adolescents. In the quantitative analysis, we compared self-reported mental health (depressive symptoms, worry, parental stress), coparental relationships (conflict and communication), and parenting of adolescents who participated prior to the pandemic ( N = 357; 83.6% female; 84.7% Latinx) with those who participated during the pandemic ( N = 49; 74.6% female; 87.8% Latinx). Unexpectedly, the pandemic-period cohort reported fewer depressive symptoms, less parental stress, more frequent coparental communication, and more positive coparental communication and conflict management than the pre-pandemic cohort. For the qualitative analysis, we conducted focus groups and individual interviews with 21 adolescent parents (95.2% female; 90.5% Latinx) from the pandemic-period cohort and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Participants reported many negative effects of the pandemic including increased economic and health stress, yet also discussed reduced pressure with school and more time with family members. These findings have important implications for enhancing the well-being of adolescent parents and their children after the pandemic.

Pemberdayaan Orangtua Melalui Pendidikan Kesehatan Reproduksi Untuk Mencegah Seksual Pranikah Pada Remaja

ABSTRAK Kompleknya permasalahan kesehatan pada remaja memerlukan penanganan yang komprehensif dan terintegrasi. Dampak dari permasalahan remaja adalah terjadinya masalah pada kesehatan reproduksi remaja. Salah satu upaya untuk mencegah perilaku seksual pada remaja adalah optimalisasi peran orang tua khususnya Ibu, selama ini pemberdayaan belum dioptimalkan pada aspek ini sehingga penanganan terhadap risiko yang ditimbulkan oleh perilaku seksual pranikah pada remaja belum mendapat perhatian khusus. Tujuan pengabdian masyarakat adalah untuk mengoptimalkan peran orangtua dengan memberdayakan orangtua melalui pendidikan kesehatan reproduksi untuk mencegah seksual pranikah pada remaja Di KUB St. Yakobus Rasul Naimata Kupang. Pelaksanaan kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat dengan cara memberikan penyuluhan, konseling informasi dan edukasi (KIE) kepada orangtua di wilayah KUB St. Yakobus Rasul Naimata Kupang. Analisis univariate yaitu data yang diperoleh dari hasil pengumpulan data disajikan dalam bentuk tabel distribusi frekuensi. Analissis bivariate dengan menggunakan uji paired sample t – test untuk mengetahui perbedaan sebelum dan setelah pemberian penyuluhan dan KIE pada orangtua remaja. Peningkatan rerata pengetahuan orangtua remaja sebelum perlakuan 64.90 dan setelah perlakuan meningkat menjadi 81.00. Hasil uji paired samples t-test menunjukkan bahwa ada perbedaan bermakna pengetahuan orangtua untuk mencegah seksual pranikah pada remaja di KUB St. Yakobus Rasul Naimata Kupang efektif untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan orangtua remaja (p < 0,05). Kata Kunci : Pemberdayaan, Orangtua, Remaja, Seksual Pranikah ABSTRACT The complexities of health problems in adolescents require comprehensive and integrated handling. The impact of adolescent problems is the occurrence of problems on adolescent reproductive health. One of the efforts to prevent sexual behavior in adolescents is to optimize the role of parents, especially mothers, so far empowerment has not been optimized in this aspect so that the handling of the risks posed by premarital sexual behavior in adolescents has not received special attention. The aim of community service is to optimize the role of parents by empowering parents through reproductive health education to prevent premarital sex among adolescents. Yakobus Apostle Naimata Kupang. Implementation of community service activities by giving counseling, information counseling, and education (KIE) to parents in the KUB St. Yakobus Apostle Naimata Kupang. Univariate analysis, namely data obtained from the results of data collection presented in the form of a frequency distribution table. Bivariate analysis using paired sample t-test to determine the differences before and after giving counseling and IEC to adolescent parents. The increase in the mean knowledge of the adolescent parents before treatment 64.90 and after treatment increased to 81.00. The results of the paired samples t-test showed that there were significant differences in parental knowledge to prevent premarital sex among adolescents in KUB St. Yakobus Rasul Naimata Kupang was effective in increasing the knowledge of teenagers' parents (p <0.05). Keywords: Empowerment, Parents, Adolescents, Premarital Sexuals

Intersectionality as a Framework for Understanding Adolescent Vulnerabilities in Low and Middle Income Countries: Expanding Our Commitment to Leave No One Behind

Given increasing policy attention to the consequences of youth marginalisation for development processes, engaging with the experiences of socially marginalised adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (including those who are out of school, refugees, married, with disabilities or adolescent parents) is a pressing priority. To understand how these disadvantages—and adolescents’ abilities to respond to them—intersect to shape opportunities and outcomes, this Special Issue draws on the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence conceptual framework which accounts for gender roles and norms, family, community and political economy contexts in shaping adolescents’ capabilities. Implicitly critiquing a focus within youth studies on individual agency, the articles advance our understanding of how adolescents’ marginalisation is shaped by their experiences, social identities and the contexts in which they are growing up. An analytical framework foregrounding intersectionality and collective capabilities offers a means to politicise these findings and challenge uncritical academic celebration of individual agency as the means to address structural problems.

Parents Experience in Giving Sex Education to Adolescents in North Kuta

Sexual education is an important think that parents can do to prevent free sex and it effects in adolescent. It is possible because family is the first place of education, but it appears to be inadequately practiced in Indonesia. This study aims to determine parent experience to provide sexual education in adolescents. We used a phenomenology interpretative approach in this study. We collected the data through in-depth interviews with ten parents. We found five themes: (1) good perception about sexual education, (2) sexual education delivered assisted by social media, (3) the topic is free sex, (4) difficult to start because of taboo and shame, (5) need support from health worker. The study reveals that sexual education is limited and need to be increased. It is essential that Indonesian parents become better informed and skilled, so that they may be involved in the sexual education of adolescent start from their family. Index Terms— sexual education, adolescent, parents experience

Dealing with adolescent not a child’s play

Adolescents are one-third of the country’s population and dealing with adolescents is not a child’s play. According to the WHO, around 1.2 billion people, or 1 in 6 of the world’s population, are adolescents aged 10–19. Adolescence is the second growth spurt of life and poses lots of challenges for the adolescent, parents, and caregivers. It marks a transition characterized by physical, emotional, and social changes. It is one of the most crucial and challenging periods of life with peak intelligence and stamina. The physical changes that herald adolescence are – the development of breasts, axillary and pubic hair, and first menstrual periods for girls and deepening of voice and broadening of shoulders for boys, which are the most striking markers of this stage. Developing brains bring new cognitive skills that enhance their reasoning ability and abstract thinking but these changes occur few years later than the physical development which brings in challenges for the adolescents and their caregivers. Adolescents develop cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally. It prepares them to experiment with new behaviors. There is a high chance of adolescents getting into smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse. Changing sexuality predisposes for early unprotected and premarital sex. Some of the reasons for high- risk behavior in adolescents includes Living in increasingly sexualized societies, impact of media, rapid growth of cities, and breakdown of traditional family structure. HEADSS criteria are the best way to assess the characteristics of an adolescent (1) H – Home, (2) E - Education and employment, (3) A – Activity, (4) D – Drugs, (5) S – Sexuality, (6) S – Suicide/depression. Adolescents (20%) are important asset to our nation. Pediatricians with a little training can deal with the adolescent in a comfortable way.