Changing social and HIV/AIDS risk behaviours: Effects of life skills education among urban street youths

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a life skills education intervention among male and female youth in Ibadan, Nigeria, on knowledge about prevention and safe sexual practices, sexual roles and responsibilities, HIV/AIDS, money management, assertiveness and communication through follow-up interviews four weeks and eight weeks following the intervention. The participants were 98 males and females, and part of an initial survey of social and health problems of street youths in Ibadan, Nigeria. They were locality-separated, with consecutive assignments to two groups of experimental (n = 54, exposure to a manual driven life skills education) and control (n = 44, non-exposure to life skills education, but attention given) participants, and evaluated subsequently at four weeks and then at eight-week follow-ups. At the four-week post-intervention assessment, the experimental group showed significantly increased scores in the knowledge of antisocial behaviour prevention (p < 0.01), about HIV/AIDS (p < 0.001), about safe sexual practices (p < 0.001), about social roles and responsibilities and about assertiveness and communication (p < 0.01). At eight-week follow-up assessment, substantial significant reductions in reported antisocial and unsafe sexual behaviours were observed across the experimental group compared with the control group. The results suggest that street youths can be empowered through life skills education but with limitation to safe sexual practices over a sustained period of time in Nigeria.