Parenting Styles As Correlates Of In-School Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviour In Cross-River And Akwa-Ibom States Of Nigeria.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Parenting Styles As Correlates Of In-School Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviour In Cross-River And Akwa-Ibom States Of Nigeria.

 Catherine Katanyi Oshie¹, Prof. Happiness, Ihuoma Igbo^2
1.Psychology Department, Federal Colleges of Education, Obudu, Cross River State
^2.Department of Educational Management, Benue State University, Makurdi

ABSTRACT
The study investigated the relationship between parenting styles and in-school adolescents’ sexual behavior in Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom States of Nigeria. The study looked at the prevalent sexual behaviors among in-school adolescents, the relationship between authoritative parenting style, permissive parenting style, and in-school adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Three specific objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study, and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlation research design. The population for the study comprises all 68 226 senior secondary school students (SS1 to SS3) in the 722 public secondary schools in Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom States of Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 385 students who were selected using proportionate stratified and convenience sampling techniques. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Parenting Styles and Adolescents’ Sexual Behaviour Questionnaire (PSASBQ). Three experts validated the questionnaire, and its reliability was established using the Cronbach Alpha method, which yielded a coefficient of 0.79. Data collected for the study were analyzed using Means, Standard Deviation, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Findings of the study revealed that the prevalent sexual behaviors among in-school adolescents in Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom States include: watching videos/movies, magazines, and pictures of naked men and women, kissing, having oral and sexual intercourse with the opposite gender, and stimulating self-genital organ for sexual pleasure. The findings also revealed that authoritative parenting style had no significant relationship with in-school adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Further, it was revealed that permissive parenting style was significantly related to in-school adolescents’ sexual behaviors. The study concluded that adoption of a parenting style like that of authoritative could lower in-school adolescents’ involvement in sexual behaviors. At the same time, permissive make in-school adolescents vulnerable to sexual behaviors that can ruin their lives. The study recommended that Counsellors establish centers for “Parenting Therapy” where parents will be acquainted with tools needed to function optimally within their family unit and bring up their children in such a manner that discourages early involvement in sexual behaviors.

Keywords: Parenting Styles, Authoritative Parenting, Permissive Parenting and In-School Adolescents

Introduction

Adolescents’ sexual behaviour has been of public concern in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Parents and school authorities all over the world are worried about adolescents’ sexual behavior. Generally, parents have distinct beliefs about the characteristics they would like to see in adolescents and ponder on child rearing practices they would adopt to attain them. This is because the most turbulent state of human development is agreeably the adolescent stage. At adolescent stage, adolescents may begin to question the legitimacy of parental authority and supervision and are particularly prone to defiant behaviour towards authority due to the need to be autonomous. Moreover as adolescents’ transform from childhood to adults, they are at the beginning of their sexual and reproductive lives. Physiologically, the changes in reproductive organs that occur in the life of adolescents often spur them in their quest to experiment sexual activities. They explore sex relationships and particularly those who have sexual intercourse seem to change partners frequently and have more than one partner at the same time and engage in unprotected sex. Some are defiant towards parental authority and engage in other sexual behaviours like masturbation and watching of pornographic films or movies.
As adolescents begin to explore their sexuality and have sexual relationships, Krost, Forrest and Harlap in Inyang (2015) states that the period of adolescence is the most controversial of all developmental stages due to experimental risky behaviours associated with it. Some adolescents begin having sexual intercourse at adolescent stage and this places them in getting involved in risky life threatening behaviours such as unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and even deaths as a result of STIs and complications during delivery. Pullack (2004) states that youth of today are constantly bombarded with high rise of sexual tendency through films, advertising, music, motion, pictures, television and the internet Another worrisome aspect of these sexual behaviours among adolescents is that, it leads to school dropout particularly among female adolescents with cases of unwanted pregnancy leading to early marriage. This makes them to waste away as they hardly come back to school to pursue their educational aspirations. Worst still is the fact that some female adolescents have lost their lives in the process of trying to abort such unwanted pregnancies; also the male adolescents are sometimes forced to drop out and marry the girls they impregnate.
The prevalence of risky sexual behaviours among adolescents in Nigeria seems to have increased drastically in recent times. This menace is becoming increasingly prevalent in the society and its effects are detrimental to the adolescent’s health and psychological wellbeing as it affects the society. Reasons for such increase could be improper sex education programmes and social media which promote lustful, irresponsible sexual behaviour. Uya (2015) attributed it to peers through indecent dressing and abuse of drugs. Alika, Akanni and Akanni (2016) broadened this perspective, recognizing a number of additional instigators such as parenting styles (characteristics) and environmental factors. Of these factors, parenting style is of concern to this study, this is because parents are considered as the primary shapers of their children’s behaviour and thus, adolescents’ sense of connectedness to their parents may influence their sexual behaviour.
Parenting generally is a complex task that includes many specific behaviours that work individually and together to influence child’s behaviour. Parent-child relationship in the home can be seen as a major contributor to adolescents’ sexual behaviours. Optimally, as parents prepare their children for adulthood, they engage in parenting to protect their adolescents from involvement in sexual risk behaviour; ultimately they also play a major role in raising individuals who are prepared for healthy intimacy and decision-making regarding sexual behaviours. As parents do their best to bring up their children in the best possible way, they also have a fair share of guilt of adolescents’ engagement in sexual behaviours. Evidence from the Focused Group Discussions in the study of Ankomah, Mamman-Daura, Omoregie and Anyanti (2011) reported that parents could have either negative or positive influence on the sexual activity of their children.

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