Child sexual abuse as a risk factor for sexual risk behaviours among socially disadvantaged adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study documents the prevalence and association between child sexual abuse (CSA) and risky sexual behaviours among in-school adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study with 1,079 boys and 1,211 girls was conducted in 22 socially disadvantaged public secondary schools in a suburb of Ibadan, Nigeria. A 70-item sexual risk behaviour questionnaire was used to collect information on lifetime and current sexual experiences. Fifty-five per cent of students reported to have ever experienced at least one form of CSA. Thirty-six per cent reported a history of intra-family CSA, whereas 46% had experienced inter-family CSA. Five hundred and sixty-four (24.6%) of these adolescents were sexually active at the time of the study. There was a strong relationship between having ever experienced CSA and sexual risk behaviours: adolescent boys and girls with CSA were three-fold as likely not to use condom at last vaginal intercourse; thrice as likely to engage in casual sex with a partner known for a day; twice as likely to drink alcohol heavily before sex; thrice for tobacco smoking and three- fold for STD. Logistic regression shows that the relationship between CSA and non-use of condom at last vaginal intercourse remained after controlling for age, family type, parents staying together and hawking after school. We found that experiences of CSA may precipitate risky sexual behaviours in this population. A structural and educational approach towards educating both adolescents and parents of the possible effect of CSA to sexual risk behaviours is presented in this article.