Sex Education By Parents And Peers As Correlates Of Adolescents Sexual Risk Behavior In Oyo State, Nigeria

Adolescence is a period where young persons achieve the highest stage of cognitive and physical development and strive to define their identity. Parents? roles in the family environment have primarily been to prepare children for adulthood through rules and discipline. During adolescence, peers play very important roles in their lives and typically replace family as the centre of social and leisure activities. These results into many risk taking activities such as smoking, aggressive behavior or indulging into sexual activities due to peer pressure. This study examined sex education given by parents and peers as correlates of adolescents sexual risk behavior in Oyo State, Nigeria. A correlation research design was adopted for the study. Two hundred and forty Senior Secondary School Students participated in the study. Three research instruments: Sex Education by Parents Scale (? = 74); Sex Education by Peers Scale (? = 86); and Sexual Risk Behavior Scale (? = 78) were used for data generation. Multiple Regression Statistics were employed for data analysis. The results of the study revealed that personal variables such as gender, family type and age significantly influenced adolescents sexual behavior {F(3,239) = 7.14}. Also, sex education given by parents and peers combined significantly influenced adolescents sexual risk behavior {F(2,239) = 9.23}. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that Counselors and Educational Psychologists should direct their attention to positive Youth development strategies that will promote general development skills for the successful implementation of sexuality education in Nigeria. These strategies will promote adolescents health by focusing solely on risk factors.