SOURCE:

Faculty: Education
Department: Human Kinetics And Health Education

CONTRIBUTORS:

Igudia, E. O.
Ogbalu, A.I.

ABSTRACT:

Several reasons such as attraction, materialism, finance and experimentation have been observed by researchers to be related to adolescents’ early sexual debuts among adolescents in Nigeria, which place them at the risk of STIs, unwanted pregnancy and even death in the case of abortion. But the relationship between self esteem and safer sex behaviours of Federal Secondary School students in South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria has not been ascertained. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the relationship between self esteem and safer sex behaviours among Federal Secondary School Students in South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. Nine research questions and eight hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The correlation survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study consisted of all the 24,190 Federal Secondary School students in South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The sample size for this study consisted of 1,303 students and it was selected through multi- stage sampling procedure. Two questionnaires were used to collect data for the study and they consisted of an adopted Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and an adapted Dilorio Safer Sex Behaviours Questionnaires which were validated by three experts in health education and two statisticians. The reliability coefficients obtained by the use of Chronbach Alpha were 0.85 and 0.82. The researcher personally led a team of five trained research assistants to collect the data from the students in their classroom during lecture hours and closing time. The completed copies of the questionnaire were retrieved from the students immediately to ensure high rate of return. The collected data were analysed using Aggregate scores to answer research questions 1 to 4 while Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to analyze data on the research questions 5 to 9. Also Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test hypotheses 1 to 3, and 5 to 6, while multiple regression analysis was used for the fourth and seventh null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The results of the study revealed among others that 297 (64%) of the students have positive self-esteem while 448(96.8%) of the students have negative safer sex behaviour. There was very low positive relationship of 0.10 existed between students’ self esteem and their safer sex behaviours which was significant. It was recommended that deliberate efforts should be made by all stake holders, health educators, counselors, parents and religious leaders to enhance students’ self esteem with the intention of promoting their safer sex behaviours. Similarly, Nigerian Association of Health Educators should wake up to her responsibilities of enlightening the stakeholders and curriculum planners on the need to introduce the teaching of self esteem as a core subject at all levels of education and not just be left in the department of guidance and counseling only where a small percent of the students utilize the services.