Risky sexual behaviours among adolescent undergraduate students in Nigeria: does social context of early adolescence matter?

INTRODUCTION: adolescent undergraduate students engage in sexual acts that put them at risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies. Even though the social context of early adolescence accounts for developmental changes in later phase of life, its impact on adolescents´ risky sexual behaviour has not been extensively explored. In this study, we examined how the social context of early adolescence influenced adolescent´s risky sexual behaviour in the university. METHODS: qualitative data were collected from 24 adolescent undergraduate students of four universities in South-eastern Nigeria. Both males and females, within the age of 16-19 years were interviewed. The data were coded, managed with the use of Atlas.ti software and thematically analysed. RESULTS: the findings indicated that risky sexual behaviours among adolescent undergraduate students are embedded in the quality of sex education by parents at early adolescence. As such, unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners were rampant among adolescents who were exposed to poor quality sex education at early adolescence. Adolescents whose parents are religious and/or authoritative but did not teach sex education during early adolescence engaged in risky sexual behaviours in the university. Also, adolescent undergraduate students that were raised in rural areas indulged in unprotected sex because of limited access to sex education during early adolescence. CONCLUSION: social context of early adolescence means a lot for adolescents´ sexual experience in later phase of life. When parents provide their children the right information about sex, it can protect them from risky sexual behaviours as they grow older.