• Paa Yeboah Akonor, Martin A Ayanore, Judith A Anaman-Torgbor, and Elvis E Tarkang.
• School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences PMB 31 Ho, Ghana.
• Afr Health Sci. 2021 Dec 1; 21 (4): 1849-1859.

BackgroundGlobally, complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among pregnant women aged 15 to 19 years. This study investigated the psychosocial factors influencing contraceptive use among adolescent mothers in the Volta Region using the Health Belief Model (HBM).MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study conducted among 422 adolescent mothers. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the strength of association between the independent and the dependent variables at a p-value less than 0.05.ResultsThe prevalence of contraceptive use was 18.7%. Concerning perceived susceptibility, there was a significant association between contraceptive use and the perception of being at risk of pregnancy complications (p<0.001). Perceived barriers showed a significant association between fear of side-effects of contraceptives and contraceptive use (p=0.007). Concerning perceived self-efficacy, there was a significant association between contraceptive use and confidence to suggest to a partner to use contraceptives (p=0.003); confidence to ask for contraceptives from health facilities (p<0.001) and confidence to use contraceptives (p<0.001).ConclusionProgrammes to increase contraceptive use should aim at heightening the perception of risk of pregnancy complications, reduce barriers to contraceptive use and increase the skills in negotiating contraceptive use.© 2021 Akonor PY et al.

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