Currently submitted to: Online Journal of Public Health Informatics
Date Submitted: May 28, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 8, 2026 - Aug 3, 2026
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The Influence of Social Media on Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitudes, and Usage Among Adolescents in Akuapem North Municipality of Ghana: a cross-sectional study design.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Social media is a primary source of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information for adolescents, yet its impact on contraceptive behaviors in low-resource settings is not well-established.
Objective:
This study examined the effects of social media on adolescents' contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and use in the Akuapem North Municipality, Ghana.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study design was used to elicit responses from 384 adolescents aged 10-19 years, recruited through simple random sampling from three schools. Data was collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data analyses included descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression performed with SPSS v27.0 to identify predictors of contraceptive use.
Results:
A total of 384 participants were recruited for the study, Majority (62.50%) were 16-19 years old. Nearly three quarters (34.38%) spend averagely three hours per day on social media with nearly half (47.92%) having an encounter with a health-related post three times in a day. TikTok (33.00%) and X(twitter) (31.10%) were frequently used social media with 41.41% being familiar with at least two contraceptive methods. Over one fourth (30.47%) indicated the main purpose of contraceptives was pregnancy control. A third (32.3%) indicated they had used contraceptive before and 31.26% indicated they are Likely to use contraceptive after learning from social media. Condoms (28.9%) and birth control pills (22.2%) were most used contraceptives. Post on on contraceptive use on social media was less likely among primary source of health information from friends/peers (COR= 0.31, 95%CL:(0.17-0.59), P= <0.001) as well as those who had their primary source of health information from health professionals (COR= 0.43, 95%CL: 0.19-0.94, P= 0.035).
Conclusions:
Despite significant exposure to contraceptive content on social media, actual use remains low, hindered by significant knowledge gaps and socio-cultural barriers. Public health interventions should integrate evidence-based, adolescent-friendly SRH messaging delivered by healthcare professionals on popular platforms like TikTok, X, and Facebook, with hashtags for easy access, since a significant proportion of adolescent’s access information on SRH through this channel.
Citation
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