Parenting Styles, Sex Education Locality and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Teenagers’ Experiment with Sex

Abstract

The issue of sexuality among teenagers was investigated in this study to assess factors that could predispose them to it. Factors such as parenting style, sex education, locality and self-efficacy were assessed to know the extent of their influence on teenagers’ experiment with sex. Three hundred and Sixty four students (220 males, 67 Females In Agege and Ipaja Local government, Lagos State and 44 males, 33 Females in Esure, Ekiti State) participated in the study. Result showed that permissive and authoritarian parenting styles influence teenagers’ experiment with sex, while authoritative parenting does not. Also sex education and self-efficacy significantly predict sex experimentation. There is also relationship between experimenting with sex and self-efficacy, permissive parenting, authoritarian parenting and sex education, but not significantly related to authoritative parenting. The study found a significant main effect of sex and locality on experimenting with sex, while teenagers in rural setting are significantly higher in experimenting with sex and authoritarian parenting than their counterparts in urban setting,  those in urban setting are significantly higher in self-efficacy, authoritative parenting and comprehensive sex education.