Peer Educator Training and Programme Quality in Adolescent Reproductive Health Initiatives in South East Nigeria

Peer education is a widely adopted strategy in adolescent reproductive health promotion, yet the quality of peer educator training and its relationship to programme effectiveness remains inadequately studied in South East Nigeria. This study examined the relationship between peer educator training quality and programme outcomes in adolescent reproductive health initiatives across Enugu, Imo, and Ebonyi states. A cross-sectional programme evaluation design was used, involving 60 trained peer educators and 240 adolescent beneficiaries selected from five NGO-implemented programmes across six local government areas. Structured questionnaires, competency assessments, and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Pearson's correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were applied. Results showed that the depth and duration of peer educator training (r 0.61, p less than 0.01), quality of supervision and mentoring (r 0.54, p less than 0.01), and provision of standardised educational materials (r 0.49, p less than 0.05) were significantly positively correlated with programme quality scores. Beneficiary knowledge gains and condom use self-efficacy were significantly higher in programmes with well-trained peer educators. The study recommends standardised national training guidelines for adolescent reproductive health peer educators in Nigeria, developed in collaboration with health education professional bodies. Keywords: peer educator training, adolescent reproductive health, programme quality, South East Nigeria, health education