ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FAMILY STRUCTURE, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ACADEMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS IN CALABAR

Abstract

Introduction: Living in a single-parent’s home has been reported to have some negative effects on children and adolescents. Adolescents in single-parent's homes have been found to be underachievers in academic activities than those in two parents’ homes. They are also known to be at increased risk of suffering various forms of abuse, having emotional, conduct and peer-related problems than adolescents from two parents’ families. The proportion of children living in single-parent homes in Nigeria has rarely been studied. This study looked at the association between family structure and the psychological and academic characteristics of students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Multi-stage random sampling was used to select secondary school students from two Local Government Areas. The first stage was a random selection of five secondary schools from each of the two Local Government Areas. The second stage was the random selection of one junior and one senior class from each of the schools. Then the students were randomly selected by simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ balloting. The Modified School Health Questionnaire (SHQ-M) and Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ), were used in the study to obtain information from students on their socio-demographics, academic and psychological characteristics. Results: A total of 430 adolescent students were recruited into the study. Roughly a third (29.3%) of the adolescents were from single-parent homes; (11.6% from divorced, 11% from single or double orphans and 6.7% from never married homes). Students from single-parent homes were more likely to repeat a class, suffer sexual abuse and hunger; they were also more likely to have emotional, conduct and peer-related problems than those in two parents’ families. Students from single father homes were significantly more likely to have peer-related problems than those from single-mother families. Also students from never married homes were significantly more likely to suffer sexual abuse than students from other single parent’s homes. Conclusion: Children from single-parent families were found to have a greater risk of repeating a class, suffering various forms of abuse and having more emotional, conduct and peer-related problems than those from two parents’ homes. Recommendation: Mental health programs need to be developed in schools to provide academic and psychological support for adolescents from single home parents