Sexual health knowledge and risky sexual behaviours of in-school adolescents in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State

Abstract

The rising incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases especially among adolescents has continued to cause apprehension for various stakeholders.  Varying measures have been devised to promote sexual health knowledge of this age group with the aim that such would facilitate development of healthy sexual behaviours. Based on this, this study examined the sexual health knowledge and risky sexual behaviours of in–school adolescents in  Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State considering the influence of gender. The study was a descriptive survey of correlational type. A total of 385 randomly selected respondents participated in the study. A researcher-designed questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.80 was used to collect data for the study. The statistical tools employed in handling information gathered were percentage, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and t – test. The findings of the study revealed high level of sexual health knowledge among the respondents (86.7%) and that one out of five  adolescents are involved in risky sexual behaviours. Appraisal of the null hypotheses revealed significant relationship between the sexual health knowledge and risky sexual behaviours of the respondents (r= 0.45) and considerable gender variation in the sexual health knowledge of in–school adolescents (t = 2.98 significant at .003). It is therefore recommended that school counsellors and other stakeholders should continue to sensitise students on sexual education especially the female. They should also embrace comprehensive sexuality education that will further reduce engagement in risky sexual behaviours among this age group.

Keywords: Sexual Health Knowledge, Risky Sexual Behaviour, In–school adolescents