Psychosocial Factors and Premarital Sexual Attitudes ofAdolescents and Young Adults in South-West Nigeria.
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Date
2014
Authors
Ojo, A.A
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Abstract
The study investigated age-related trends in the premarital sexual attitudes of adolescents and young adults in South-West Nigeria focusing on some psychosocial factors that could influence these premarital sexual attitudes. The objectives of the study were to develop and standardize a Premarital Sexual Attitudes Test (PSAT) as well as to examine the influence of some psychosocial factors on premarital sexual attitudes. The following hypotheses were formulated and tested: (i) Adolescents will endorse significantly more conservative premarital sexual attitudes (PSA) than young adults. (ii) Participants who were high on extrinsic religiosity (on one hand) and intrinsic religiosity (on the other hand) will endorse more conservative PSA than those who were low on both dimensions of religiosity. (iii) Males will endorse significantly more permissive PSA than females. (iv) Participants attending both public secondary and tertiary institutions will endorse significantly more permissive PSA than those in private schools. (v) Sexually experienced participants will endorse significantly more permissive PSA than those who are sexually inexperienced.
The study was conducted in three phases: Phase one involved item generation for the newly developed PSAT using a sample of 272 male and female whose ages ranged between 10 and 28 years. Using the classical content analysis technique, the result produced a 50-item initial version of the PSAT. Phase two was devoted to the standardization and validation of the PSAT. The participants were 1,269 adolescents and young adults (628 males and 641 females) who were selected from eight secondary and tertiary institutions in Lagos, Ogun and Osun States in South-West, Nigeria. The scores of the participants in each item of the newly developed PSAT were factor analyzed and psychometric properties were established. In addition, concurrent validity was established for the PSAT by correlating participant’s scores on it with their scores on Sexual Attitudes Scale (SAS) and Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale – Permissiveness subscale (BSAS-P). In phase three (main study), the cross-sectional survey research design was employed. This main study sampled 1044 unmarried adolescents and young adults (490 males and 554 females), aged 10-27 years. The following instruments: Personal Data Questionnaire (PDQ), PSAT (final version), Religious Affiliation Scale (RAS) and Religious Trust Scale (RTS) were administered to them simultaneously. The data was analyzed using correlation analysis, multiple regression, independent t test, and one-way analysis of variance.
The results from phase two showed that PSAT is a reliable and valid measure of premarital sexual attitudes and the final version is a 21-item scale which comprises two dimensions: Conservativeness and Permissiveness. Findings from phase three revealed that age, gender, extrinsic religiosity, attendance in private secondary schools and sexual experience had significant influence on participants’ PSA (p<0.05). Specifically, adolescents endorsed more conservative PSA than young adults; males endorsed more permissive PSA than females; participants high on extrinsic religiosity endorsed more conservative PSA than those low on extrinsic religiosity; public secondary school students endorsed more permissive PSA than private secondary school students; and sexually experienced participants endorsed more permissive PSA than sexually inexperienced participants. However, for intrinsic religiosity and attendance in private tertiary institutions, no significant relationships were found with PSA.
Results were discussed in the light of the existing theoretical and empirical literatures. A major recommendation was that of making a case for the implementation of the existing policy on sexuality education and its proper inclusion in the curricula of Nigerian secondary schools as well as the monitoring and evaluation of its effectiveness in order to promote change in the premarital sexual attitudes and behaviour of young people to more adaptive ones.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos.
Keywords
Premarital Sexual Attitudes , Adolescents , Young Adults , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Psychology
Citation
Ojo, A.A (2014), Psychosocial Factors and Premarital Sexual Attitudes ofAdolescents and Young Adults in South-West Nigeria. A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation, 189pp.