Some Demographic Predictors of Adolescent Sexual Abuse: Implications for Non-Formal Education and Social Work

Abstract

Adolescent sexual abuse with its adverse outcomes such as high risky sexual behavior, unintended pregnancies, early marriage, truancy and high school drop out rates threaten the maximum development of the potentialities of its victims. In relation to Akwa Ibom and Cross River States of Nigeria, adolescent sexual abuse compounds the problem of economic backwardness and the high illiteracy profile associated with these states. Intervention measures must be employed to assuage these problems. Therefore this study investigated the extent to which some demographic variables such as age, religion, family type and gender predict sexual abuse of inschool adolescents in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. A sample of 1295 subjects (males 561 and 734 females) was randomly selected. Data for the study were collected with a research instrument tagged adolescence sexual abuse predictors scale (ASAPS). The results showed that age and gender accounted for 43% in the prediction of the vulnerability of adolescents to sexual abuse while religion and family type did not contribute significantly to the prediction. This implies that irrespective of age and gender of adolescents they could be sexually victimized.