PEER AND HOME FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF TENDENCY TO SAME-SEX SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Personal experience on the increasing cases of same-sex sexual behaviour among secondary school adolescents especially in South Eastern Nigeria has necessitated the present study. The study investigated how peer and home factors of polygamy, monogamy, separation (divorce), authoritative permissive and authoritarian parenting styles could be predictors of tendency to same-sex sexual behaviour of students in South Eastern Nigeria. In pursuit of the afore-mentioned objective, five (5) research questions and four (4) null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 215,658 SS I and SS II students from all the states that make up the South East. The design adopted was a correlational survey design with a sample of 1,200 secondary school students drawn from 12 schools in the South Eastern part of Nigeria made up of 5 states: Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi. Multi stage sampling technique   was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was a self-developed “Sexuality, Peer, and Home Factor Questionnaire (SPHFQ)”. The instrument was validated using three experts in the field of Guidance and Counselling and Measurement and Evaluation. The researcher with the help of two research assistants distributed and collected the questionnaire from the students after responding to the questionnaire. The overall reliability coefficient waros 0.81. The research questions were tested using mean and standard deviation and Pearson correlation, while null hypotheses were analyzed using ANOVA and t-test associated with multiple regression. The findings of the study revealed, among other things that: There are prevailing or common same sex sexual behaviours, peer factor is a predictor of tendency to same-sex sexual behaviour, separation (divorce) is a predictor of tendency to same-sex sexual behaviour, polygamy is a predictor of tendency to same-sex sexual behaviour, permissive and authoritarian are predictors of tendency to same-sex sexual behaviour. Based on the findings, some counselling implications were highlighted. Recommendations were also made  among which is  that close supervision and monitoring on peer association or relationship should be carried out by parents, teachers, guardians etc to checkmate their excesses. Parents should monitor friendships and relationships of their children especially friendships or relationships with people of same sex inorder to detect when they err or go contrary to their expectations.