INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL CONNECTEDNESS ON PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR IN IBADAN NORTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

Parental Connectedness (PC), a social and emotional bond between parents and their children, influences the sexual behaviour of adolescents worldwide. In Nigeria, the effect of PC on the Sexual Behaviour (SB) of secondary school students has been little researched particularly in Ibadan North East Local Government Area (LGA), Oyo State. This study was conducted to determine the influence of PC on the SB of Public Secondary School (PSS) students in the LGA. The study was a cross-sectional survey which adopted a 3-stage sampling technique to select the wards, schools and 802 respondents from eight of the 64 PSS. Eight Focus Group Discussion (FGD) sessions, four each among male and female students, were conducted. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, PC and history of sexual intercourse were collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The PC was measured using a 304-point scale with four domains. The domains of PC were: Parental Control and Monitoring (PCM), Parental Supervision (PS), Parent-child Relationship/Parental Presence (PRPP) and Parent-Child Communication (PCC) with domain maximum scores of 90, 40, 90 and 84 respectively. Overall scores of ≤188 and >188 point were categorised as low and high PC respectively. Scores considered high connectedness for PCM, PS, PRPP and PCC were ≥54, ≥24, ≥54 and ≥56 respectively. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were used to analyse the quantitative data at p≤0.05, while FGD data were subjected to content analysis. Mean age of respondents was 15.2 ± 2.0 years, 51.7% were males and 84.0% were living with both biological parents. Mean PC score was 215.0 ± 20.8 and the proportion of respondents with low PC was 10.3%. Thirty percent of the respondents have ever had sexual intercourse and 13.8% had sex three months preceeding the study. Mean scores for PCM, PS, PRPP and PCC were 70.5 ± 10.5, 25.5 ± 6.9, 80.0 ± 9.3 and 39.0 ± 6.6 respectively. Respondents with high PCM, PS, PRPP and PCC were 93.9%, 48.6%, 97.8% and 1.5% respectively. On PCM, respondents stated that their mothers (82.8%) than fathers (67.0%) always knew where they were. Regarding PS, more respondents reported that mothers (63.8%) and fathers (52.7%) supervised their homework. More respondents (73.9%) were closer to their mothers than their fathers (63.7%) within the context of PRPP. For PCC, more respondents discussed sexual issues with their mothers (19.3%) than fathers (8.2%). A higher proportion of respondents with low PC (36.1%) had ever had sex than those with high PC (29.3%). More respondents with low PC (19.3%) than those with high PC (13.2%) had sex three months preceding the study. The FGD findings supported the quantitative results that mothers were more connected to their children in all the PC domains. High parental connectedness was associated with reduced sexual activities among public secondary school students. School-based reproductive health interventions which emphasise parent-child connectedness are recommended to address the reproductive health needs of adolescents.