Effectiveness of tiktok and instagram based education in improving adolescent reproductive health literacy in bone regency: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study

Introduction: Social and cultural barriers may limit adolescents’ access to reproductive health information. This study examined changes in reproductive health literacy following social media-based education and explored adolescents’ experiences in Bone Regency, Indonesia. Research Methodology: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted in four schools. Two schools were allocated to the intervention and two to the control condition. The analysis included 114 adolescents (57 per group). The intervention lasted four weeks. Qualitative findings were obtained through focus group discussions (12 participants) and in-depth interviews (6 participants). Quantitative comparisons used nonparametric tests, and qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Cluster-adjusted estimates were not reported and require reanalysis. Results: Mean literacy scores increased from 52.4 to 78.6 in the intervention group (a 26.2-point change) and from 51.8 to 55.2 in the control group (a 3.4-point change). The unadjusted difference in changes was 22.8 points. Exploratory platform subgroups showed mean changes of 27.8 points for TikTok (n = 38), 23.4 for Instagram (n = 13), and 29.6 for multiplatform use (n = 6). Qualitative themes concerned privacy, contextual relevance, cultural norms, peer dissemination, and culturally sensitive content. Statistical significance and effect sizes must be reassessed with clustering accounted for. Conclusion: Social media-based reproductive health education was associated with improved measured literacy in the participating schools. Platform comparisons are exploratory, and the proposed Digital Contextual Education Model (DiCEM) requires independent validation. The design does not establish changes in actual reproductive health behavior.