Abstract
Teenage pregnancy is becoming a global health concern, affecting around 70% of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). Such high rates of teenage pregnancy highlight the need to provide effective tailored health messages with AGYW to address the problem. In South Africa (SA), the use of digital media technologies has the potential to effectively communicate about teenage pregnancy, given that approximately 88% of Generation Z are reported to be active online daily. It is on this premise that this study aims to explore the preferences of South African AGYW for digital health communication about teenage pregnancy. The study was informed by two theories: stakeholder theory and the health promotion theory. The study used a quantitative approach where individual questionnaires were administered to 310 AGYW chosen randomly from high schools in Soweto. Key findings indicate that most young women preferred receiving verbo-visual communication through visual images, live sessions with health practitioners on YouTube, as well as real stories and testimonials from influencers on YouTube. Most respondents preferred receiving messages about the causes of teenage pregnancy such as peer pressure. Moreover, most respondents also preferred using short message services such as WhatsApp and social media platforms such as TikTok videos to receive information about teenage pregnancy. This study may inform health educators and health institutions about which message content and on which channels of communication to communicate about teenage pregnancy to AGYW.
Keywords: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), teenage pregnancy; social media, digital media, digital health communication preferences.