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Demographic Variables as Predictors of Risky Sexual Behaviour among University Students in South East, Nigeria

Introduction: Risky sexual behaviour (RSB) has increasingly become an issue in academic discourse at the turn of the century, even in the Nigerian context. It is however, either often studied uni-dimensionally or studied for its health promoting and aetiological implications. This study thus set out to determine the predictive capacity of demographic variables (gender and religiosity) over dimensions of risky sexual behaviour such as early sexual debut, random sexual activity and disregard for protection during sex among university students in South East Nigeria. Method: The correlational research design was adopted for the study. A research question was asked and a null hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance to guide the study. Multistage sampling was used in selecting 1200 students for the study. The Undergraduates’ Risky Sexual Behaviour Questionnaire (URSBQ) was used to collect data for the study and it consisted of 15 items. The research question was answered using Pearson Correlation statistics. The null hypothesis was tested using multiple regression analysis. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Results: The correlational matrix of variables indicated a significant positive relationship between gender and the three dimensions of risky sexual behaviour. Religiosity had a significant negative relationship with total RSB and only two dimensions of RSB (random sexual activity and disregard for protection during sex) except early sexual debut. The multiple regression analysis for predictor variables and total risky sexual behaviour gave an indication that the predictor variables jointly contributed 3.2% to explain the variances in response. Each predictor variable made significant individual contributions to the variances in response, based on the standardized Beta coefficients, among other findings. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings of the study formed the fulcrum of the discussion, which extended to the multiple regression analysis for predictor variables and each of the dimensions of risky sexual behaviour with respect to their joint and individual contributions to the variances in response. It was thus concluded among others that gender and religiosity both significantly predicted total risky sexual behaviour, but religiosity did not significantly predict all three dimensions of the criterion variable.