1 Department of Public Health, Ho Teaching Hospital, Volta Region, Ghana.
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ho Teaching Hospital, Volta Region, Ghana.
3 Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
4 Institute for Brain Sciences Research, School of Life Sciences, Henan University Kaifeng, China.
5 School of Postdoctoral Studies, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 24(03), 1310-1326
Received on 19 October 2024; revised on 10 December 2021; accepted on 12 December 2024
Adolescent health studies in Ghana’s Volta Region have often focused on topics such as family planning, teenage pregnancy, and unsafe abortions. However, limited empirical evidence exists regarding the psychosocial challenges faced by pregnant adolescents. This study explores the psychological and social difficulties impacting pregnant adolescents in the Ho Municipality, to inform policies and psychosocial interventions to support this vulnerable group. Using a narrative and phenomenological approach, this facility-based qualitative study gathered insights from pregnant adolescents aged 10-19 through in-depth interviews at the Volta Regional and Ho Municipal Hospitals. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and provided accounts of their experiences, challenges, and the factors contributing to their pregnancies. Thematic analysis revealed significant psychological challenges such as hopelessness, anxiety, sadness, isolation, and sleep disturbances. These issues were often driven by family rejection, partner denial, stigmatization, and discrimination. Poverty emerged as the primary contributor to adolescent pregnancy, alongside factors such as single parenting, lack of contraceptive access, limited sexual education, peer pressure, cultural influences, and media portrayals of sexual behaviour.
The study highlights a need for multifaceted strategies at both structural and individual levels to address adolescent pregnancy and its associated psychosocial challenges in the Ho Municipality. The study recommended implementing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education in schools, communities, and families to better support adolescents in managing and preventing pregnancy.
Adolescent pregnancy; Psychosocial challenges; Ho Municipality; Teenage pregnancy; Sexual and reproductive health; Cultural influences; Comprehensive sexuality education
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Arhin Emmanuel, Amakpa Yao Eric, Manu Abubakar and Bright Kwaku Anyom. Psychosocial challenges of pregnant adolescents: A narrative Inquiry of Adolescents in the Ho Municipality, Volta Region, Ghana. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 24(3), 1310-1326. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2024.24.3.3631