Parenting Practices and Adolescent Boys' Health and Well-being in Ethiopia: Exploratory Analysis

Although there is universal recognition of the critical role that parents play in influencing the well-being of adolescents, there is sparse evidence that documents this relationship in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on cross-sectional data from Ethiopia, this article explores how parenting practices shape the well-being of very young adolescent boys, and how these patterns differ in urban and rural contexts.

We analyze both quantitative and qualitative survey data (2017-2018) from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence study among very young adolescents (aged 10-12 years) in Ethiopia. Quantitative data include 2,219 boys, 2,875 girls, and their caregivers (n = 5,094 primary female caregivers; 467 primary male caregivers). We provide descriptive statistics for both boys and girls and caregivers, with primary multivariate regression analyses conducted for boys to assess the association between parenting practices and adolescent boys' outcomes across 4 capability domains (physical health, mental health, violence, and education). These quantitative data are complemented by in-depth qualitative data from adolescent boys (n = 65) and parents (n = 184).

Adolescent boys in urban areas are significantly more likely to both experience (63.1% vs. 51.7%, p = .002) and perpetrate peer violence (40.6% vs. 29.7%, p = .019) as compared to girls. In rural areas, adolescent boys' mental health is slightly worse than girls' (0.965 vs. 0.859, p = .070), and boys report significantly higher rates of hunger than girls (24.5% vs. 18.1%, p < .001). Turning to adolescent boys only, gendered attitudes are more entrenched in rural areas, with mothers more likely to disagree that girls and boys should share household tasks equally (9.6% vs. 25.1%, p < .001) and more likely to agree that if a family can afford to send only one child to school, it should be the boy (26.3% vs. 44.2%, p < .001). We find strong associations between parent behavior and adolescent boys' outcomes, particularly for violence, with similar associations seen in urban and rural areas. A mother's use of physical or emotional violence to correct behavior is associated with increases in experiencing (0.201, p < .001) and perpetrating (0.181, p < .001) peer violence. A father's use of physical or emotional violence is also associated with a 17.4 percentage point (pp) (p = .002) increase in experiencing peer violence and a 19.3 pp (p = .002) increase in perpetrating peer violence.

Parenting, by both mothers and fathers, has a powerful influence on adolescent boys' health and well-being outcomes. There is a need for greater attention to prioritizing age- and gender-sensitive parenting programs that engage with both male and female caregivers as a key lever to improve adolescent health outcomes.