Psycho-Socio-Economic Transformation of Adolescent Boys and Young Men Who Attended Combination Social Protection Interventions in Resource-Constrained Communities of Gauteng, South Africa

In resource-constrained settings like South Africa’s informal settlements, adolescent boys and young men (ABYM) often navigate complex socio-economic and cultural pressures that shape their Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) behaviors, choices, and identities significantly. This study explored how ABYM perceived and experienced changes in their SRH behaviors and related psychosocial outcomes after participating in a Combination Social Protection programme (CSP) that integrated structural, interpersonal, economic, and behavioral components in resource-constrained settings of Gauteng, South Africa. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative design. A sample of 12 ABYM was purposively selected from NGOs in Gauteng that implemented the CSP. Data were collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews and analyzed using Creswell and Creswell’s model of thematic data analysis. The findings indicate that the participants’ sexual attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of gender norms were shifted positively following their attendance of the CSP intervention. The CSP programme’s apparent success in impacting sexual behaviors and gender norms among ABYM offers a critical entry point for rethinking adolescent programming at the policy level. However, the geographic limitation of the study underscores the need for future comparative studies across diverse settings using robust longitudinal Randomized Control Trial designs.