Parental Counseling, Knowledge, Practice, Prevalence, and Determinants of Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Students Attending Selected Tertiary Institutions in Kanifing, The Gambia

Sexual risk behaviors (SRBs) are common practices worldwide and they are the major determinants for contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), unintended pregnancy, abortion, academic interruption, psychological trauma, social stigma, and death among young adults and students. The aim of this research was to study parental counseling, knowledge, practice, prevalence, and determinants of SRBs among students in selected tertiary institutions in Kanifing, The Gambia. This quantitative study supplemented with qualitative assessment was conducted in four purposely selected tertiary institutions in Kanifing, The Gambia. 272 students (14 were randomly selected), aged between 18 and 25 participated and anonymously responded to pre-test self-administered questionnaires. Bivariate analysis was used to describe the dependent and the independent variables, while multivariate analysis was used to determine the correlation between the dependent and the independent variables using Chi-square and Fisher exact statistics. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The mean age of the students was 21.8±2.4 years, 72.8% were females, 52.9% have once been counseled on sex-related matters by their parents, 30.1% have never had sex at mean debut age of 18 years, and 16.9% have multiple sexual partners. There was no statistically significant association between parental counseling and SRBs. Among the study participants who have had sex, SRBs like multiple sexual partners were recorded among 56.1%, and sex for reward in 23.2%. There was a low knowledge of SRBs among 49.0% of the study participants. Among the SRBs analyzed, only sexual debut age was statistically associated with SRB knowledge, and higher SRB knowledge correlated with late sexual debut. Thematic analysis generated four themes (forms of SRBs; motivations; fears and worries; and positive influences) and two theories (Theory 1 – Motivations such as sexual urge, curiosity, infatuation, and poor sex education encouraged the study participants to engage in SRBs; and Theory 2 – Fear of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies, worry of female genital mutilation (FGM), and positive influences of youth organizations limited the intense engagement of some study participants in SRBs). Effective sex education to young people by their parents in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere is essential in reducing SRBs. Providing young people with their basic needs is very important in preventing SRBs.