Table 3 Perceptions of effective intervention preference for reducing adolescents’ risks for STIs including HIV according to socio-ecological model levels – individual, relationship, community and societal

Individual level

B1: “Education at an early age must be based on values, ethics, and religion, away from the forbidden things of all kinds, and we must also use these values to implement successful interventions.”

G1: “Teaching social skills to the teenager in order to be able to manage and control his desires.”

F1: “We need programs that educate young people and spread a culture of chastity and modesty.”

M.T1: “I believe that strengthening religious beliefs in adolescents can give them immunity and protection against dangerous behavior.”

Relationship level

G2: “Parents should supervise their children and know what kind of friends they have, and what they watch on TV and on the Internet.”

G3: “… Prosocial students should be involved in such interventions as they are a good example and can positively influence their colleagues.”

F2: “Parents should be made aware about all these issues related to sex education and should learn the ways and skills required to communicate with their children in these subjects, which is still considered taboo.”

F.T1: “We must involve parents of students and organize meetings with them so that the behaviors observed in their children can be followed and thinking together about ways of dealing with these behaviors.”

M.T2: “Parents should know more about STI transmission and prevention methods so that they can educate their children about these behaviors that are harmful to their health.”

Community level

B2: “I think sex education should be included in the curriculum through a school subject that specializes in all risky behaviors that can affect teenagers.”

G4: “They should add school subject to the curriculum about sex education and unhealthy behaviors and how to avoid them. They should also organize programs to educate adolescents because they have a lack of knowledge regarding STIs and they are more likely to engage in adultery.”

F3: “School officials should encourage students to practice sports by organizing sports competitions so that they can fill students’ spare time with useful activities and thus avoid dangerous sexual behaviors.”

M1: “Outreach programs must be implemented in partnership with school clubs and associations. In addition, the involvement of students themselves in such intervention by making presentations on STIs and methods of prevention so that they develop a sense of responsibility and can avoid risky behavior.”

M.T3: “Sex education must be included in school curricula of all levels and specialties, whether literary or scientific ... we can also devote more time to these topics and present them in an interactive way by involving students in order to become more aware of these behaviors and to avoid them.”

F.T2: “Modern technological means must be used in sex education because we notice when we carry out activities related to sexually transmitted diseases and we use images and videos, we can see that students are more interested and more influenced.”

M.T4: “There are, of course, health clubs that have to organize various activities on AIDS in particular and other sexually transmitted diseases with the help and partnership of the Ministry of Health.”

Societal level

G5: “Promote awareness among adolescents by increasing health programs in the media, which must be provided with the help of specialists and celebrities who have an impact on adolescents.”

G6: “The government must block these pornographic and ugly sites, and it must also fight adultery in order to limit the spread of these diseases.”

F4: “Even Moroccan television has to offer respectable Moroccan films, not Turkish translated films or Indian films that are offered to Moroccans, which are not their culture.”

M2: “Media should provide targeted programs that show adolescents the risks of sexually transmitted diseases.”

M3: “I think this is everyone’s responsibility and that the state should also impose sanctions on any minor who has premarital sex.”

F5: “The Ministry of Health must conduct confidential medical screening on students.”

F.T3: “In the media, there should be special programs to raise awareness of the seriousness of these sexually transmitted diseases, not only at the social level but also at the economic level.”

M.T5: “In this area, the Ministry of Health has to move and organize many awareness programs continuously, and the state must provide cultural centers for young people to build their personalities and to fill their leisure time.”