Relationship between Knowledge and Attitude towards HIV Voluntary Counselling among Adolescents in Secondary Schools in Edo State

Abstract

The study assessed the relationship between knowledge and attitude towards HIV voluntary counselling among secondary school adolescents in Edo State. One hypothesis guided the study. This was a descriptive correlational study based on survey research design. The population of the study was one hundred and ninety-eight thousand eight hundred (198,800) adolescents in secondary schools in Edo State. One thousand, nine hundred and eighty eight (1988), that is one percent (1%) of the entire population of secondary school adolescents were sampled from across secondary schools in Edo State using multi-stage stratified simple random sampling technique. A validated instrument titled “Knowledge and Attitude towards HIV Voluntary Counselling Questionnaire (KAHVCQ)” developed by the researchers with the assistance of experts was used to gather information for the study. The instrument was content validated by experts. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha. The alpha level showed the following results: knowledge of HIV voluntary counselling = 0.77 and attitude towards HIV voluntary counselling = 79. Alpha level of 0.77 and 0.79 indicate that the instrument was reliable for use in the study. The instrument was administered on the study participants by the researcher and six research assistants. Data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC). The analysis yielded the following result: there is significant relationship between knowledge and attitude towards HIV voluntary counselling among adolescents in secondary schools in Edo State. The result supports the hypothesis and conclusion of the study. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made among others: government should put policy in place to provide free HIV voluntary counselling for adolescents aged 10-18 years in schools and school counsellors should intensify efforts through enlightenment campaigns on the need for students to participate in HIV voluntary counselling and HIV/AIDS education.