Transforming Abortion Complication Awareness, Knowledge and Behaviours: The Role of Social Studies Education Among Female Undergraduates

Abstract

This study examined the role of social studies teaching. It combined health education and social studies literacy in shaping knowledge, social behaviour, and the incidence of abortion-related complications among undergraduate female students at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Using a descriptive survey research design, data were collected from 179 undergraduate female students using the Social Studies Teaching, Knowledge, Behaviour, Abortion Complicated Awareness Questionnaire (SSTKBACAQ); the reliability coefficient was 0.78. Responses were measured on a four-point scale and analysed using means, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, and mediation path analysis at the 0.05 significance level. Findings showed that combined health education literacy and social studies literacy were significantly associated with reduced abortion-related complications (r= −.309, p< .001). Social studies teaching was significantly positively associated with students' knowledge of abortion complications (r= .201, p< .01) and with social behaviour orientations toward abortion (r = .920, p< .001). Path analysis revealed that social studies teaching exerts its protective influence on complication outcomes through two mediating pathways: complication knowledge (a₁ = .201) and social behaviour (a₂ = .920), with a significant direct combined path (c' = −.309, p < .001). The study concludes that social studies teaching is a primary institutional lever for both knowledge-building and behavioural socialisation regarding abortion and that integrated health education and social studies programmes are more effective than either discipline in isolation. We strongly recommend strengthening social studies pedagogy with reproductive health content and establishing multidisciplinary campus reproductive health platforms.