Table 1.

Example of coding process and data synthesis of the perceptions of contraception services among AGYW who were recipients of a combination HIV prevention intervention in five districts of South Africa

Quote (meaning unit)	Theme	Sub-theme	aSEM level
Contraceptives are very important you see…Because if you don’t use contraceptives you may fall pregnant	Importance of using contraceptives	Perceived benefits of contraceptive use	Intrapersonal
It is important because what if you get raped while walking, get kidnapped and raped, there is a difference in what happens because you will be safe from being pregnant even though you can have STI’s and HIV			Intrapersonal Interpersonal Contextual
I have some information. I also get from LO [Life Orientation] however it is not enough I still need some more information, for example, I don’t know the different types of contraceptives and how they work on your body	Barriers to contraceptive access and use	Lack of information	intrapersonal
To be honest, we are not sure but we know that the injection can prevent you from being pregnant, we don’t have much knowledge about the other issues like the fact that it makes your body to hang, the gaining of weight, and the issue of being wet			Intrapersonal Interpersonal
The clinic is far…sometimes you don’t get assisted if you go after school, and then you have to go the next day and be absent at school		Facility distance	Health services Structural/ environmental
The needle makes other people gain weight, it makes others lose weight. Out there people will start to gossip about you and say you have AIDS, you have TB you are sick and stuff		Myths and Misconception	Interpersonal Contextual
Some clinics can be frustrating like you would go to a clinic for contraception, the nurses will start asking all sorts of question; why are you here? Young as you are! Do you have a boyfriend? And because of these questions and that you feel embarrassed you end up leaving without accessing the services		Provider attitude	Health services
My boyfriend doesn’t know that I am on contraceptives I hide it from him, because if he found out, I don’t know what would happen because he doesn’t approve of me taking the injection		Lack of male partner support	Interpersonal
I don’t think my mother would understand if I talk about going to prevent (family planning). She would think that I’m planning to have sex or that I have slept with a boy that’s why I want to go prevent or if I want to check for HIV she’d think that I’ve had sex with a boy		Lack of parental support	Interpersonal Contextual
For most of us here we live nearby so the day hospital is a walking distance so its easy for us to get condoms and family planning and its free also	Factors enabling access	Clinic/ service provider proximity	Health services
I talk to my mom, she even reminds me of the next visit date for family planning, and she tells me that just because I have my first child		Parental/caregiver support	Interpersonal
He also tells me that I have to prevent because I am in school. I cannot afford another child. My future will get ruined if I am busy having children. I have to prevent.		Male partner support	Interpersonal
But as for me, there was a time when I was using tablets… Then 1 day when I went to the clinic to fetch them, the nurse told me that an injection is much better than tablets because with tablets, you are expected to drink them everyday… But, with injection, when you use it, you are again expected to come after 3 months for a repeat… So, she discussed it with me and made me to understand the difference between the injection and the tablet, unlike other nurses who do not have time to explain, they just give you what you said you wanted.		Provider positive attitude	Health services
Like contraceptive, I did not know the different types but now I have a little bit of knowledge about them	Influence of the intervention	Gained information	Intrapersonal
At first, we were using only condom, but after we joined Rise [Rise Club] they said things like preventing, which is good... for me not to be pregnant. So now I know when I have to have sex, I must use a condom so to protect myself and prevent [using contraceptives]			Intrapersonal Interpersonal
I think it has changed my life because my mom did not want me to prevent, so I joined Rise [Rise Club] and explained to her what they told us there. So she let’s me prevent now		Parental support	Interpersonal

^aSEM Socio-ecological model