PERCEPTION OF IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENT GIRLS ABOUT STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH SELECTED SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ISSUES IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

The conceptualisation of stigma has been in existence for a while among adolescents. Presently, Nigeria has no country-specific report about stigma associated with sexual and reproductive health issues most especially risky sexual activity, unwanted pregnancy, indiscriminate contraceptive use and unsafe abortion. This study therefore described the rate of perceived stigma among the in-school adolescent girls in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Nigeria. It also examined the perception of the respondents about the sexual and reproductive health stigma. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted that included 633 female students from the senior secondary classes in Ibadan Local Government Area. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data about socio-demographic characteristics and perceived stigma about selected sexual and reproductive health issues using a 20-item set of sexual and reproductive health stigma scale on a 3-point modified Likert scale (agree, neutral and disagree). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and correlation at p=0.05 were used to analyse the data. The respondent’s mean age was 15.3 ±1.5 years. Two hundred and five (32.4%) of the respondents were in early adolescence and, 370 (58.5%) were in mid-adolescence. Five hundred and ten (80.6%) of the respondents were from the Yoruba ethnic group and three hundred and ninety-three (62.1%) of them were Christians. More than half (82.8%) of the respondents were from monogamous families, 59 (88.3%) of the respondent's parents were married and 38 (6%) were separated. Two hundred and fifty-nine (40.9%) of the respondents were from low socioeconomic class. Respondents in early, mid and late adolescence who had high perceived stigma were 174 (84.9%), 311 (84.1%) and 54 (93.1%) with high perceived stigma respectively. Among the ethnic groups, 441 (83.1%) of the respondents who were Yoruba had a high perceived stigma with regard to sexual and reproductive health issues. Common reasons for high perceived stigma about sexual and reproductive health issues among the respondents were, 370(58.5%), 401(63.3%), and 399(63%) of the respondents agreed to the queries that people would behave differently from adolescents who are known to have had sex, abortion and used modern contraceptive respectively. Also, more than half of the respondents (81.4%) agreed that being pregnant would bring shame to their family, and 275(43.4%) agreed that modern contraceptives would have a negative effect on adolescent health. There was a high perceived stigma among the in-school adolescent girls in Ibadan North local government area. It is therefore necessary to sensitize the community about the stigma associated with sexual and reproductive health issues.