Demographic Determinants of Risky Sexual Behaviours Among In-School Adolescents in Wukari Local Government Area, Taraba State Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the demographic determinants of risky sexual behaviour among in-school adolescents in Wukari LGA, Taraba State, Nigeria. Three research questions were formulated. Cross sectional design was adopted. 345 subjects were randomly sampled using Taro Yamane formula with multi-stage sampling procedure from 3044 population of in-school adolescents in government owned Secondary Schools in Wukari LGA. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire (DDRSBISAQ) was 0.73, determined through Cronbach Alpha statistic. Quantitative data from 345 copies of completed DDRSBISAQ were collected and analysed. The completed data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) batch system version 21. Socio- demographic characteristics were analysed using Frequency and percentage, while research questions 1-3 were answered using Chi-square. Findings of the study indicated that the proportion of in-school adolescents who engaged in risky sexual behaviour such as early sexual initiation, possession of multiple sexual partners and having sex under intoxication is 2.78%. The findings further revealed that majority (84.48%) of in-school adolescents claimed they had never engaged inin risky sexual behaviours. There was significant relationship between age (p-value 0.050) and in-school adolescents ‘sexual behaviours, while there was no significant relationship between gender (p-value 0.402) and sexual behaviours of the respondents. The study recommended among others that curriculum planners and developers should consider the findings of this study when planning curriculum for both JSS and SS students putting into consideration the variation in age and gender.