John Abdulrahman Imaledo1, Opirite Boma Peter-Kio2 and Oyedunni Sola Arulogun1
Festive periods Christmas inclusive, is a time for fun, socializing and partying with its attendant risky behaviours that predispose young people to infections and unintended pregnancies. This phenomenon has not been fully explored in Nigeria. This study therefore explored the risky behaviours of undergraduate students of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria during the Christmas period. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed among 600 students selected from 5 faculties of the University using a stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected by a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis of data was done using descriptive statistics. More respondents were (52.5%) females, 33.8% were in the science faculty and 50.6% were within the 20-24 year age group. More than half (59.7%) had ever taken alcohol and 14.5% had ever smoked. About 46% of respondents keep friends that take alcohol, 23.8% keep friends that smoke cigarette, 42.9% had ever attended night party with friends and 39.4% attended night parties with friends during the Christmas preceding the study: 75.7% reportedly had sexual intercourse during the Christmas period and 32.2% of these did not use any form of protection. Young people exhibit risky sexual behaviour during the Christmas period. Sensitization and educational programmes targeting risky sexual practices among young people during festive periods should be instituted.
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