Evidence of knowledge of key SRH issues, usually so­licited by means of personal interviews with or self-administered questionnaires completed by adolescents

Data Source(s):

Surveys of adolescent program participants or of ado­lescents in the program‘s intended population

Purpose:

Adolescents must have knowledge of key SRH topics and issues if they are to make in­formed decisions to protect their health and well being. Many adolescents get their RH information from poorly informed sources (i.e., peers). Inaccurate beliefs con­cerning levels of risk associated with particular behav­iors and/or the effectiveness and side-effects of differ­ent types of contraceptives can be strong enough to pre­vent adolescents from accurately perceiving the poten­tial consequences of their behaviors. This indicator is a composite measure that includes the SRH topics and issues of primary importance for protecting the RH of adolescents and/or those topics and issues the program emphasized.

Issue(s):

When interviewers question adolescents about these topics they should use local, non-scientific names to describe certain practices and conditions. Evaluators can and should analyze separately the individual topics and questions included in the composite index to deter­mine those specific topics requiring further emphasis by the program. Although adolescents need accurate knowledge of SRH topics for informed decision-mak­ing, adolescents may not act in a manner consistent with their knowledge, such that evaluators need to measure behavior separately.