Perceptions of Sexual Behavior and Knowledge About Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria

and ineffective use of barrier contraceptives8 and the decreased value placed on virginity.9 To date, however, few studies have investigated young people’s perceptions of the problem. To design appropriate interventions, it is important to know about adolescents’ knowledge of and experience with STDs and about their health-seeking behavior related to STDs. For example, we need information about adolescents’ knowledge of and attitudes toward using condoms for STD prevention, their use of various types of health providers for the treatment of STDs and their attitudes toward partner notification. It is widely recognized that Nigerian adolescents do not use existing reproductive health services.10 This poor utilization of public services is probably largely attributable to the fact that such services do not specifically address the needs and concerns of adolescents. Eliciting adolescents’ views on reproductive health in communities where sexuality is not openly discussed can be problematic. A quantitative research design yields limited information on this complex Miriam J. Temin is a population and reproductive health officer/Michigan international development associate with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, London; Friday E. Okonofua is professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, and is executive director of the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC), Benin City; Francesca O. Omorodion is an affiliate, Department of Sociology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria; Elisha P. Renne is assistant professor, Anthropology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Paul Coplan is senior epidemiologist, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and adjunct scholar, University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Philadelphia, PA, USA; H. Kris Heggenhougen is associate professor in the Department of Population and International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, and in the Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; and Joan Kaufman is the Ford Foundation’s reproductive health program officer for China, based in Beijing. The study on which this article is based was a collaborative project between WHARC and the Department of Population and International Health, Harvard University School of Public Health. WHARC, which conducted the study, receives core funding from the Ford Foundation. The study was jointly funded by the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation (grant 96-33552) and The Rockefeller Foundation (grant PS9618/HS9603). Perceptions of Sexual Behavior and Knowledge About Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria