Abstract

The study examined the influence of parental involvement, religiosity and sex communication on adolescents’ attitude towards premarital sex among in-school adolescents in Ibadan Metropolis. This study is a cross sectional survey research. A total of 500 participants were sampled through convenience sampling from selected secondary schools randomly selected from the Oluyole and Ibadan North Local Government of Oyo state. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data hypotheses were tested using Factorial ANOVA; multiple regressions and Pearson Product Moment Correlation at p≤.05. Significant associations were demonstrated between parental involvement(r = -.21, p<.01), religiosity(r = -.34, p<.05), and attitude towards premarital sex while associations among parental communication, socio-demographic characteristics and attitude towards premarital sex were not significant. The result revealed that parental involvement (β = --.18, t= -4.18 p<.01), religiosity (β = -.33, t= -7.69, p<.01) have significant independent influence on attitude towards premarital sex (R2 = 0.15, F (3,496) = 28.64, p <.01)However, sex communication (β = -.05, t= -1.44 p>.05) have no significant independent influence on attitude towards premarital sex. There was main effect of parental involvement (F (1,492) = 792.78, p<.01) and religiosity (F (1,492) =26.91, p<.01) on attitude towards premarital sex. Furthermore, the result also revealed that there was significant interaction between parental involvement and religiosity on attitude towards premarital sex (F= (1,492) = 28.37, p<.01). The government should endeavor to incorporate it in the curriculum of various schools and to spread the dangers to the public at large.