Peer Pressure and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Risky Sexual Behaviour among in-School Adolescents in Makurdi Local Government

The study "peer pressure and self-efficacy as predictors of risky sexual behavior among in-school adolescents in Makurdi local government" was carried out with the following objectives to find out if; peer pressure will predict risky sexual behaviors among in-school adolescents in Makurdi Local Government, selfefficacy will predict risky sexual behaviors among in-school adolescents in Makurdi Local Government, peer pressure and Self-efficacy will jointly predict risky sexual behaviors among inschool adolescents in Makurdi Local Government. The study was anchored on the Albert Bandura's social learning / cognitive theory and Dweck and colleagues' implicit theories of peer relationships. Using the Taro Yamane's formula, the sample size of the study was 400. The participants were all sampled from Tiley Gyado Secondary School, Jewel Academy, Airforce Secondary School, Elite Secondary School, Pardopas Harmony Secondary School, and Community Secondary school all from Makurdi local government. Of the whole 400 participants age wise, 25(6.3%), 17(4.3%), 72(18%), 127(31.8%), 69(16.5%), 66(16.5%) and 24(6%) participant were 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 years respectively. Regarding participant's sex, 218 respondents represented by (54.5%) were males while the remaining 182(45.5%) were females. Furthermore, 352(88%) were Christian as 42(12%) were Islam religious wise. Pertaining tribe, Tiv was highly represented with 204(51%) following by Idoma 80(20%) while Igede maintained 67(16.8%) as others constituted 49(12.3%). Also, demographically it was shown that 226(56.5%) were of the junior class (JSS 1-3) while 174(43.5%) represented the senior class (SS 1-3). Findings of the study showed that, peer pressure significantly predicted risky sexual behavior among in-school adolescents in Makurdi metropolis [R = .286 and R 2 = .082; F (1, 398) = 35.459; p<.001]; that selfefficacy significantly predicted risky sexual behavior among inschool adolescents in Makurdi metropolis [R = .726 and R 2 = .527; F (1, 398) = 443.782; p<.001]; that peer pressure and selfefficacy significantly and jointly predicted risky sexual behavior among in-school adolescents in Makurdi metropolis [R = .730 and R 2 = .533; F (2, 397) = 226.576; p<.001]. also findings further showed that there was a significant main effect of tribe on risky sexual behavior among in-school adolescents in Makurdi metropolis [F (3, 389) = 6.046; p<.001]. It was therefore recommended that, care givers and parents should ensure that only positive peer pressures are allowed around students. As the implication of negative peer pressure can result to risky sexual behavior which may result to unwanted pregnancies or being infected with sexually transmitted diseases amongst others; school curriculums and organizations should allow for policies and teachings that will discourage risky sexual behaviors amongst adolescents generally (in-school adolescents especially); there should be a watch on students self-efficacies as it is key to what they (in-school adolescents) do per time.