Media Influence on Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Amongst Students of University of Jos, Jos Plateau State Nigeria

Introduction: The Youth are active consumers of media content where issues pertaining to sexual activity and contraceptives could be seen. Information derivable from the media can reduce the burden of reproductive health. Therefore, examining the influence of media on sexual behaviour and contraceptive use of students may assist policy makers to strategize on providing solutions to these problems. Objective: The general objective of this study was to examine the influence of media on sexual activity and contraceptive use among students at the University of Jos, Plateau State. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study where 278 students of general studies were selected using a multistage random sampling technique. Individuals were subsequently chosen at random until a statistically determined sample size was achieved. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20) software was utilized for data analysis. Results: The mean age of respondents was 22.3 years Students that were ≤ 20yrs constituted the largest group of respondents (49.6%). Most of the students (77%) agreed that media influences sexual behaviour with the Internet/social media (39.3%) having the most influence. Most of the respondents (87.4%) had heard of contraceptives from the media, most from the Internet/social media (42.4%) while the male condom (46.5%) was the most known type of contraceptive. Most of the respondents (77.7%) felt that contraceptive information in the media encouraged engagement in safe sex. There was a significant statistical association between information from media and influence on sexual activity and also influence on use of contraceptives. There was also significant statistical association between information on contraceptives from media and engagement in safe sexual activity. Significant number of the students (42.6%) agreed while 40.0% disagreed that the media should be a platform for sex education to students. Most of the students (87.4%) agreed that contraceptives information in media can lead to reduced incidence of unwanted pregnancies among students. Most of the students (86.7%) agreed that contraceptives information in media can lead to reduced incidence of STIs and HIV/AIDS among students. Conclusion: Media content is seen among the top sexual educators amongst students. Mass media plays an important role in improving contraceptive use among students. This finding provides a window of opportunity for improving contraceptive utilization in the country through an improved and sustained use of the mass media to disseminate family planning information.