title: How does a national poverty programme influence sexual debut among Kenyan adolescents?
abstract: 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.
authors: a Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.|b Department of Public Policy , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.|c UNICEF Office of Research , Florence , Italy.
authors: Sudhanshu
authors: S
authors: Handa
authors: c UNICEF Office of Research , Florence , Italy.
authors: Tia
authors: T
authors: Palermo
authors: d Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies , Harvard University , Cambridge , MA , USA.
authors: Molly
authors: M
authors: Rosenberg
authors: a Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.|e Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
authors: Audrey
authors: A
authors: Pettifor
authors: a Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.|f Department of Maternal & Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
authors: Carolyn Tucker
authors: CT
authors: Halpern
authors: a Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.|g Department of Health Policy & Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
authors: Harsha
authors: H
authors: Thirumurthy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054540:Child, Orphaned; D003075:Coitus; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D011632:Public Assistance; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cash transfers; HIV risk; Kenya; sexual debut