Awareness and Attitude of Senior Secondary School Students towards HIV/AIDS Risk Factors and Preventive Measures in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study determined the level of awareness and attitude towards HIV/AIDS risk factors for enhanced preventive measures among senior secondary school students in Ebonyi State. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-method design. The population of the study comprised of all the 6,912 Senior Secondary 2 (SS2) students in Ebonyi North Education Zone. The sample for the study comprised 378 senior secondary school (SS2) students. The instruments for data collection were a questionnaire developed by the researchers and a Focus Group Discussion Guide. Both instruments namely the questionnaire and the focus group discussion guide were face validated by experts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Quantitative data analysis was done using mean and standard deviation and t-test statistics. Qualitative analysis with respect to the Focus Group Discussion was done using thematic analysis method. Findings of the study showed among other things that senior secondary school students are aware of HIV/AIDS risk factors and do have a positive attitude toward such HIV/AIDS risk as well as their preventive measures. The findings of the study further revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female students on attitude and preventive measures towards HIV/AIDS risk factors in the study area. Similarly, there was no significant difference in the mean responses of urban and rural senior secondary school students on awareness of HIV/AIDS risk factors and attitude towards the risks factors in the study area. However, there was a significant difference in the mean responses of male and female students on awareness of HIV/AIDS risk factors with the female students having a higher mean than their male counterparts. There was also a significant difference in the mean responses of urban and rural students on awareness of HIV/AIDS preventive measures with the urban students having a higher mean than those in the rural area.