Future Husbands: Predictors of Male Adolescents’ Exposure to Family Planning Messages in Ghana

Eugene K. M. Darteh, University of Cape Coast
Joshua Amo-Adjei, University of Cape Coast

Contraceptive acceptance and utilization is not a one–off event and a number of studies conclude that weak involvement of men in family planning decision–making accounts for the low usage in countries undergoing fertility transition. Programming has begun incorporating men but the focus has largely been on married men. Using data from the 2003 GDHS, this paper assesses predictors of unmarried adolescent males’ exposure to specific contraceptive messages. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors of exposure to messages. Generally, levels of exposure to messages on contraceptives were high. Messages that positioned family planning messages as beneficial to the individual had high levels of exposure. However, there were marked disparities in exposure to the specific messages. Behavior change is a process and not an event; it is imperative for messages on family planning and contraceptives to be appealing and acceptable with potentials of inducing change.