Open Communication About Reproductive Health Is Associated With Comprehensive HIV Knowledge and a Non-stigmatising Attitude Among Indonesian Youth: A Cross-sectional Study

OBJECTIVES: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention among youth seems under-prioritised compared to other key populations. HIV knowledge and stigma are important parts of HIV prevention. To inform HIV prevention among youths, this study quantitatively analysed the associations between open communication regarding sexuality and sexual health, comprehensive HIV knowledge, and non-stigmatising attitudes in Indonesia. METHODS: This study used data from the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS) 2017. The analysis included unmarried men and women aged 15–25 years old. Comprehensive HIV knowledge and a stigmatising attitude were defined according to the IDHS 2017. Open communication about sexuality and sexual health was defined as the number of people with whom participants could openly discuss these topics in their direct network of friends, family, and service providers, with a scale ranging from 0 to a maximum of 7. Primary analysis used binomial logistic regression with weighting adjustments. RESULTS: The final analysis included 22 864 respondents. Twenty-two percent of youth had no one in their direct network with whom to openly discuss sexual matters, only 14.1% had comprehensive HIV knowledge, and 85.9% showed stigmatising attitudes. Youth mostly discussed sex with their friends (55.2%), and were less likely to discuss it with family members, showing a predominant pattern of peer-to-peer communication. Multivariate analysis showed that having a larger network for communication about sexuality and sexual health was associated with more HIV knowledge and less stigmatising attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Having more opportunities for open sex communication in one’s direct social network is associated with more HIV knowledge and less stigmatising attitudes.