ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTH AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIORS OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS: A COMPARATIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY BETWEEN OLD AND NEWLY ESTABLISHED UNIVERSITIES

Students in higher institutions are exposed to many psychosocial problems and risky sexual behaviors as
they are away from their parents and possibly due to suboptimal counseling services. The problems may
be more apparent in newly established universities. Despite this concern, there is no information
regarding the psychosocial health status and risky sexual behaviors of students in higher learning
institutions in Ethiopia.
The study aimed to assess and compare the magnitude of risky sexual behaviors and psychosocial ill
health among students of newly established and old universities.
The study employed a comparative cross-sectional survey supplemented with qualitative methods.
Cluster sampling technique was used to select the departments after dividing the total sample size
proportionally to first year and second year students. A total of 1033 students were included in this
study: 518 from DBU and 515 from AAU. Quantitative data were processed in SPSS v.13.00 statistical
software. Ethical clearance was obtained from ethical review committee of the school of public health
and institutional review board at Medical Faculty of Addis Ababa University. Taped qualitative data
were transcribed, translated into English, and manually analyzed by grouping into predetermined
thematic areas.