Verbal Persuasion as a Correlate of Adolescents’ Self-efficacy in Utilizing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Tanzania

Abstract

The study investigated verbal persuasion as a correlate of adolescents’ self-efficacy in utilizing sexual and reproductive health services in secondary schools, in Tanzania. Specifically, it sought to determine the relationship between adolescents’ verbal persuasion and the utilization of sexual and reproductive health services. The study employed a quantitative research approach and a correlational research design. Using stratified and simple random sampling, the it drew a sample of 552 secondary school adolescents from Katavi and Njombe regions. The study used questionnaires to collect data; and then used the SPSS, version 25, to analyse it. Descriptive analyses were performed across four demographic characteristics, namely, gender, age, class level, and type of school. Additionally, inferential statistics, including Spearman’s correlation coefficient, helped determine the relationship between verbal persuasion and the utilization of SRHS in terms of condom use and HIV testing and counselling among secondary schools students. The results revealed a weak, positive and significant relationship between verbal persuasion and adolescents’ condom use (r = .266, p-value <.001). There was also a weak positive and significant relationship between verbal persuasion and adolescents’ HIV testing and counselling (r = .131, p-value .002). Consequently, the more verbally persuaded the adolescents were, the more they enhanced their self- efficacy on condom use and the utilization of HIV testing and counselling services. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the national policy be reviewed to integrate self-efficacy sources to enhance its role in life-skills education, thereby empowering adolescents in Tanzania’s secondary schools to make better use of HIV testing and counselling services, as well as condoms, more effectively.