Correlation between parenting styles and sexual attitudes of young people in Nigeria: comparison of two ethnic groups

Abstract

The relationship between parenting styles and sexual attitudes of young people in Nigeria was assessed in this study. In doing this, 852 secondary school students selected from two ethnic groups and two states (Yoruba- Oyo state, & Efik – Cross River state), with ages ranging between 11 and 24 yrs responded to parenting styles and sexual attitudes questionnaires. It was hypothesized that:
1. Authoritative and the hybrid authoritative/authoritarian parenting styles would be more characteristic of Yoruba Parents than the Efik Parents
2. The young people of Yoruba decent would report more restraint sexual attitudes while those from Efik decent would report more liberal and permissive sexual attitudes.
3. Males would have more liberal and permissive sexual attitudes while females would have more restraint sexual attitudes
4. There would be positive and significant correlation between the parenting styles and the sexual attitudes of young people in Nigeria
Results obtained confirmed three of the hypotheses fully and the fourth partially. In addition authoritarian and permissive parenting styles predicted liberal, permissive, promiscuous, and loose attitudes to sexuality issues, while authoritative parenting style predicted restraint attitude.