Prevalence Rate of Abstinence from Sex Among Adolescents in Kenya: A Case of Selected Public Secondary Schools in Dagoretti South Sub-County, Nairobi County

Abstract

This study sought to determine the prevalence rate of abstinence from sex among adolescents in Kenya, with a special focus on selected public secondary schools in Dagoretti South sub-county, Nairobi County. The study specifically sought to establish the prevalence rate of abstinence from sex among adolescents in selected public secondary schools in Dagoretti South sub-county, establish adolescents’ attitudes towards abstinence from sex among adolescents in selected public secondary schools in Dagoretti South sub-county, determine the respondents’ knowledge of effects of premarital sex, and determine gender-based sexual activity differences among adolescent boys and girls in selected public secondary schools in Dagoretti South sub-county. The population of the study comprised male and female adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years and studying in public secondary schools in Dagoretti South sub-county and the target population was Form 1 to Form 4 students in the selected Schools. The study had a sample of 81 students who were selected through purposive sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire and a key informants’ interview guide, analysed with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23. The analyzed data was presented in terms of percentages, mean scores, frequencies, and standard deviation. Key findings of the study were that adolescents engaged in premarital sex; 56.6% of the male respondents and 14.2% of the female ones indicated that they were sexually active; More female respondents (85.8%) were abstinent compared to their male (43.4%) counterparts; and the first source of information regarding sex was the respondents’ teachers. A key recommendation by the study is the need for integration of sex education into the high school curriculum.