Abstract
Criminal abortion is a critical public health issue in Nigeria, contributing significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality among adolescents. Restrictive laws and socio-cultural stigma often drive secondary school students toward unsafe procedures. Despite this, localized data on the perceptions of these adolescents in semi-urban areas like Oriade Local Government Area (LGA) remain scarce. This pilot study aimed to validate a research instrument designed to evaluate the perceived effects, impacts, and risk factors of criminal abortion among secondary school students, and to assess the feasibility of a larger cross-sectional study. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed. A structured self-administered questionnaire, grounded in the Andersen Behavioural Model of Healthcare Utilisation, was developed. The pilot study was conducted in Oriade LGA a neighboring to Obokun LGA where the main study will be carried out, using a sample of 31 female senior secondary students (10% of the main study sample). Data were analyzed for internal consistency using Cronbach’s Alpha. The instrument demonstrated high reliability with an overall Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 0.82. The sub-scales for perceived effects, impacts, and risk factors also showed acceptable internal consistency (>0.70). The pilot confirmed that the methodology is feasible and the instrument is culturally sensitive and comprehensible to the target demographic. The research instrument demonstrated significant psychometric rigor, achieving a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82, which confirms its robustness in capturing the study’s nuanced objectives. The findings reveal that for adolescents in Oriade LGA, criminal abortion is perceived as a precarious but calculated risk, strategic, high-stakes trade-off intended to safeguard academic longevity and hedge against social exile. Ultimately, the data underscores that criminal abortion among secondary school students transcends clinical boundaries; it is a multifaceted socio-economic construct fundamentally driven by pervasive secrecy, systemic fear, and the profound absence of non-judgmental, youth-oriented reproductive infrastructure.