Sociology, Department of
Date of this Version
2019
Citation
Nigerian Journal of Child and Adolescent Health (2019) 2(2): 6-12
Abstract
Risky sexual behaviors of adolescents in Creek Town have not been fully profiled. This study investigated the sexual behaviors of adolescents and their various dimensions in Creek Town, in Cross River State, Nigeria. This cross-sectional survey design adopted multi-stage sampling procedure to administer a 112-items questionnaire to 422 adolescents, to elicit information on their sexual behaviors and practices. Four focus group discussion sessions were also conducted with in-school and out-of-school adolescents. The mean age of adolescents was 17 years. Majority (65.4%) of the adolescents were sexually active. The mean age at sexual debut was 15 years for both male and female. Although 51.4% reportedly practiced protected sex, 25.2% were not consistent with it. Other practices such as masturbation (21.8%), anal sex (16.6%), viewing pornography (51.7%) and sex with older persons (27%) were observed. Gender was significantly related with masturbation- χ2= 5.084; pornography - χ2= 11.296; and sex with older persons - χ2= 16.094. Alcohol consumption enhances practices of unprotected sex during sexual debut of the adolescents, while the option of material gains was the motivating factor for sex with older persons among female adolescents. There is a need for parental monitoring, and a focused health education geared toward promoting safe sexual behaviors for adolescents in Nigeria.
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Comments
Open access material