University students’ perception on adolescent pregnancy and sexuality

• Main Authors: Harun Narasid, Fazlina, Mohamed, Nurmahani, Tengku Abdul Rahman, Tengku Nurul Aqilah, Abd Karim, Aishah Hanim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Industry Networks 2022
• Subjects: LB1050.9 Educational psychology
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/97294/9/97294_University%20students%E2%80%99%20perception%20on%20adolescent.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/97294/; https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijssr/article/view/17596/9336

The topic of sexuality is a taboo subject in Malaysia. The increment of cases reported on sexual misbehaviour among Malaysian adolescents indicated that sexual problems have become one of the major problems in Malaysia with average of 18,000 adolescents’ pregnancy cases each year (Said, 2019). Unhealthy sexual relationship among adolescents also contributed to many problems due to lack of understanding and exposure on sexual education. The present study aims to determine the level of perception of university students on sexuality and adolescent pregnancy. This study also seeks to investigate the relationship of students’ perceptions on sexuality and adolescent pregnancy. This study utilized 5-point Likert scale survey via Microsoft Form. It is a quantitative survey design using purposive sampling method. The analysis of the data involved the application of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 26.0. Descriptive statistics was used to find the demographic data such as the gender, age, living with and place they live. The mode was calculated to obtain the level of university students’ perception on sexuality as well as adolescent pregnancy. Pearson’s Correlation Analysis was used to find the correlation between perception of students on sexuality and perception of students on adolescent pregnancy. The respondents were 81 first year undergraduate students in the faculty of education in a public university in Selangor. Results of the study revealed that students’ perception on sexuality and adolescent pregnancy are in ‘moderate category’ and that there is no relationship between students’ perception and the perception of adolescent pregnancy since the p value is more than 0.05. This study helps to give new insights from adolescents, increase awareness about this issue as well as help the authorities and policy makers to tackle this problem. Adolescence is an important phase; thus, suitable approaches are needed to ensure our adolescents stay safe and healthy.