PREDICTIVE INFLUENCE OF PAEDOPHILIC TENDENCY ON THE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR OF UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the predictive power of paedophilic tendency on the sexual behaviour of university undergraduates in South-East Nigeria. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. The population comprised 148,712 undergraduate students enrolled in federal universities in South-East Nigeria during the 2024/2025 academic session. A sample of 1,148 respondents was selected using a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using the researcher-developed Paedophilic Tendency Scale (PTS) and the adapted Sexual Behaviour Scale (SBS). The instruments were face-validated by three experts from the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. A pilot study established reliability coefficients of 0.76 for the PTS and 0.85 for the SBS using Cronbach's alpha. Data were collected through Google Forms and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Simple linear regression was used to answer the research question and test the hypothesis at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that paedophilic tendency significantly predicted the sexual behaviour of university undergraduates, accounting for 47.1% of the variance in sexual behaviour. The null hypothesis was therefore rejected. The study concluded that paedophilic tendency is a significant psychological predictor of sexual behaviour among university undergraduates. It was recommended that universities strengthen counselling and psychological support services, implement comprehensive sexuality education programmes, and establish confidential referral mechanisms to promote healthy sexual behaviour and early psychological intervention among students.