Effectiveness of Social Media-Based Intervention in Intention Change of Adolescents for Promoting Sexual Health Behavior in Western Terai of Nepal

TL;DR

This study shows that using Facebook Messenger to educate adolescents in Nepal improves their sexual health knowledge and intentions.

Contribution

It introduces social media as an effective tool for sexual health education in a region with limited traditional outreach.

Findings

Adolescents' knowledge scores on STIs increased significantly from 2.33 to 4.62.

Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control scores improved significantly after the intervention.

Intentions to promote sexual health increased from 13.07 to 18.06.

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescents are among the major public health challenges that have to be prevented in time. Traditional education falls short of reach; social media offers accessible ways. However, there is no research on such an issue in Nepal. Accordingly, this study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a social media-based health education intervention in changing the intention of promoting sexual health among adolescents in Nepal.

Study Design: A quasi-experimental study.

Methods: A total of 160 adolescent students aged 14–19 years old from four purposively selected schools were evenly divided into intervention and non-intervention groups. Sampling and data collection were performed between May and June 2023. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires for pretest and posttest evaluation. The intervention was delivered and followed up through a Facebook Messenger group. The obtained data were managed and analyzed using SPSS 21, with a significance level of 5%.

Results: Social media-based health education interventions played a significant role in promoting the sexual health behavior of adolescents. The adolescents’ knowledge and attitude scores on STIs increased from 2.33 to 4.62 and from 21.87 to 26.30. In addition, their scores on subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions in promoting sexual behavior increased from 13.93 to 17.59, from 19.96 to 25.40, and from 13.07 to 18.06, respectively, which were statistically significant.

Conclusion: The utilization of social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger groups is an effective medium for delivering health educational messages. Hence, increasing social media-based health education is a cost-effective intervention for promoting the health and sexual behaviors of adolescents.

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