Impact of Religiosity and Location on Risky Sexual Health Behaviour among Senior Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study examined the impact of religiosity and location on risky sexual health behaviour among adolescent secondary school students. Two research questions were raised to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. A simple random sampling technique was used to select three hundred and forty-five (345) participants of age 11-17 years, male and female students both in urban and rural areas. The reliability coefficient of the adolescent risky sexual behaviour scale is 0.89. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and T-test. The findings revealed that the independent variables of religiosity and location had a significant impact on adolescents’ risky sexual health behaviour. The findings further revealed that urban adolescent students display higher sexual risky-taking behaviour than their rural resident counterparts, as divulged in the mean difference in the study. It was concluded that a proportion of adolescent secondary school students engaged in some form of risky sexual behaviour. However, it was recommended, among others, that in order to curtail or reduce early sexual initiation among adolescents, parents should begin early to teach or orientate their children on reproductive health matters.