Substance Use, Self-esteem, and Locus of Control as Predictors of Risky Sexual Behaviour among University Undergraduates

Abstract

Risky sexual behaviour has been on the increase among young adults and it poses great threat to the nation’s public health system. Studies have reported inconsistent predictors of risky sexual behaviour among young adults. Therefore, this study investigated substance use, self esteem, and locus of control as predictors of risky sexual behaviour among undergraduates of the University of Ibadan. The study adopted cross-sectional survey design while randomly selecting six faculties and accidentally sampled 409 participants for the study. Four instruments: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Self-Esteem Scale, Locus of Control Scale, and Risky Sexual Scale were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using t-test of independent samples and multiple regression and tested hypotheses at a p <.05 level of significance. The result showed that substance use (r =.536, p <.05), self esteem (r = 4.41, p <.05), locus of control (r =-.128) significantly correlated with risky sexual behaviour among the study population. Also, substance use, self-esteem and locus of control jointly predicted risky sexual behaviour (R² =.23, F (3, 405) = 9.616, p < .05) which accounted for 23% of variance explained. It is concluded that substance use, self-esteem, and locus of control are good predictors of risky sexual behaviour among the study population. The study recommended putting in place preventive measures on substance use such as regular programmes to sensitize the students on the problems caused by substance use, lack of self-esteem and locus of control among the students.