Abstract
Knowledge and prevalence of contraceptive utilization among in-school adolescents in Nigeria is a critical area of concern for public and reproductive health. While awareness of contraceptives is relatively high among adolescents, requisite knowledge is poor and actual utilization remains low. This paper therefore investigated knowledge and prevalence of contraceptive utilization amongst in-school adolescents in Anambra State. The Health Belief Model and the Social Cognitive Theory formed the theoretical frame for this paper. The paper adopted the mixed methods research design. The sample size for the quantitative component of the study was 613 respondents statistically derived and randomly selected using the multistage sampling procedure. The instrument for collection of quantitative data was structured questionnaire, whereas the In Depth Interview Guide (IDI) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used for qualitative components of the study. The quantitative data were processed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and analysed using descriptive statistics such as the frequency counts, simple percentages and charts. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis method with illustrative quotes. The findings show that the utilization of contraceptives amongst in-school adolescents was low and irregular amongst the respondents. The factors for the low utilization of contraceptives included among others, lack of knowledge about contraceptives, afraid of being seen by parents, embarrassment of buying contraceptives and partner disapproval. Based on these findings, introduction of reproductive health education in school curriculum in Nigeria was recommended to help improve knowledge and enhance contraceptive utilization amongst in-school adolescents in Anambra State, Nigeria.