Tailoring Sexual Health Research Practices to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Findings from Mexico-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Tailoring Sexual Health Research Practices to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Findings from Mexico

Published:2024-03-07 Issue:1 Volume:4 Page:158-170
ISSN:2673-7051
Container-title:Adolescents
language:en
Short-container-title:Adolescents

Author:

Servin Argentina E.¹^ORCID,Macklin Ruth²,Wilkerson Sara³^ORCID,Rocha-Jiménez Teresita⁴⁵^ORCID,Rangel Gudelia M.⁶,O’Bryan Sophie E.¹,Fisher Celia B.³^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0507, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

2. Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA

3. Center for Ethics Education, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA

4. Society and Health Research Center, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Artes, Universidad Mayor, Santiago 7560908, Chile

5. Millennium Nucleus on Sociomedicine, Santiago 7560908, Chile

6. The U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, Mexico Section, Tijuana 22010, Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research is essential for the development of population-tailored evidence-based policies and programs that support sexual health among adolescent girls. However, ethical challenges create barriers to girls’ participation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From February to September 2019, girls aged 16–20 (n = 30) who participated in the Jovenes Sanos study in Tijuana, Baja California (ClinicalTrials: NCT03660514) responded to in-depth interviews (IDs) on the perceived risks and benefits of participating in studies which address gender-based violence, unintended pregnancy, and STIs. Emergent themes indicated the need to ensure that consent and incentive procedures are tailored to the developmental level of participants, while highlighting the importance of researcher–participant relationships, and demonstrating how research can serve as an opportunity to empower girls to express their sexual health medical needs. Understanding adolescent girls’ voices is a critical step in ensuring that consent to participate SRH research is tailored to the developmental needs of participants, is culturally competent, and has a participant-centered approach.

Funder

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development

Fordham University HIV

Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute

National Institutes on Drug Abuse

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/4/1/11/pdf

Reference59 articles.

1. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2023, December 08). Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health Country Profiles and Dashboards. Available online: https://data.unicef.org/resources/health-country-profiles-and-dashboards/.

2. Evaluation of the effect of maternal adolescent age on neonatal outcomes;Cumhur. Med. J.,2022

3. Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes of Adolescent Pregnancy: A Narrative Review;Maheshwari;Cureus,2022

4. World Health Organization (WHO) (2023, October 01). Adolescent Pregnancy. Available online: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy.

5. WHO (2023, December 20). Global and Regional STI Estimates. Available online: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/global-and-regional-sti-estimates.