How does a national poverty programme influence sexual debut among Kenyan adolescents?
Cash transfer programmes have recently emerged as promising interventions for HIV prevention among adolescents in Africa. However, the pathways through which risk reduction occurs are not well understood. We examine data on 1429 adolescents and youth from the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, which has been shown to result in delayed sexual debut among adolescents. We explored three potential mediating pathways: schooling, socio-economic status and psycho-social status. None of these hypothesised mediators greatly altered the main effect. However, school attendance had a larger protective effect on sexual debut among females but was only increased by the programme among males. This gendered pattern of effects may explain why we did not see a mediating effect of the cash transfer through schooling, despite schooling's protective effects against early sexual debut. Results also suggest that cash transfer programmes in Africa can contribute to the reduction of HIV related risk behaviours.
['Handa|Sudhanshu|S|', 'Palermo|Tia|T|', 'Rosenberg|Molly|M|', 'Pettifor|Audrey|A|', 'Halpern|Carolyn Tucker|CT|', 'Thirumurthy|Harsha|H|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D054540:Child, Orphaned D003075:Coitus D005260:Female D015658:HIV Infections D006306:Health Surveys D006801:Humans D007630:Kenya D008297:Male D011203:Poverty D011632:Public Assistance D012725:Sexual Behavior D035862:Vulnerable Populations D055815:Young Adult
sexual debut Cash transfers Kenya HIV risk