Gender Norms and Reproductive Health Decisions among Adolescent Males in Urban Ghana: A Sociocultural Exploration in Djibouti

Adolescent males in urban Ghana are influenced by gender norms regarding reproductive health decisions. Quantitative survey data were collected from 1000 male adolescents aged 15-19 years in urban areas of Ghana. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and regression models to examine relationships between gender norms, reproductive health decisions, and demographic variables. Regression models indicated that traditional masculinity ideals significantly predicted adolescent males' contraceptive use and sexual abstinence behaviors (β = -0.35, p < 0.01). Gender norms play a crucial role in shaping adolescent males' reproductive health decisions, highlighting the need for culturally tailored interventions to support their healthy development. Public health programmes should incorporate gender sensitivity training and community engagement strategies targeting traditional masculinity beliefs to improve adolescent males' sexual health outcomes. Adolescent males, Gender norms, Reproductive health, Urban Ghana, Djibouti Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.