Keywords
sexual behaviour
family connectedness
rural-urban secondary schools
Adolescent health
Abstract
Adolescents are considered vulnerable due to their ability to venture into Health Risk Behaviours (HRBs) that may have a long-term detrimental effect on their total wellbeing. The major focus of previous adolescents’ studies in Nigeria has been on parent-adolescent communication and the relationship it has to their academic performance and sexual behaviour; none has explored the association of social connectedness and HRBs among in-school adolescents. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess and compare social connectedness and HRBs among in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas of Oyo State.
A school-based comparative cross-sectional design was employed wherein 2071 in-school adolescents were selected via a multistage cluster sampling in Ibarapa Central and Ibadan North Local Government Areas of Oyo state.
Overall, slightly over one-half of the respondents (51.9%) were from the urban LGA and 54.2% were females. The mean age of respondents was 13.7±2.1 years and 46.7% were early adolescents aged 10-13 years. Majority (80.7%) lived with both parents, and 69.0% of their parents were in the middle socioeconomic class. The prevalence of HRBs among in-school adolescents was high (91.8%) and the mean score of social connectedness among in-school adolescents was high, with a slightly higher mean in rural area (131.71±16.43) compared to (131.04±14.47) in urban area. However, this was not statistically significant (p=0.322). The mean scores of the domains of religious connectedness (p = 0.176), school connectedness (p < 0.001), peer connectedness (p < 0.001) and social-media connectedness (p = 0.003) were higher in the rural areas. However, the mean score of family connectedness among respondents was higher in the urban area (p<0.001).
Among the in-school adolescents in the urban area, there were significantly lower mean scores for social connectedness, family, religious and school connectedness among respondents who had engaged in HRBs compared to their counterparts who had never engaged in HRBs (p<0.05). Among the in-school adolescents in the rural area, there were significantly lower mean scores for social connectedness, peer and social-media connectedness among respondents who had engaged in HRBs compared to their counterparts who had never engaged in HRBs (p<0.05). The odds of having engaged in HRBs were significantly 1.57 times more likely among respondents who were males than those who were females {AOR= 1.57, 95% CI: 1.12 – 2.19}. The odds of having engaged in HRBs was significantly 1.44 times more likely among respondents who live in an urban area than among those who live in a rural area {AOR= 1.44, 95% CI: 1.03 – 2.01}. For a unit increase in the total score of social-media connectedness of the students, the odds of having engaged in HRBs was reduced by 0.95 {AOR= 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92 – 0.99}.
Therefore, various efforts targeted at improving social connectedness with its domains were recommended to prevent in-school adolescents from engaging in HRBs.
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