Parenting influences and their implications on senior secondary school adolescents' socio-emotional Wellbeing in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State

Abstract

This study examined parenting influences and their implications on senior secondary school adolescents’ socio-emotional wellbeing in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State. The study adopted the survey research design. The population for the study was 8,332 public secondary school students in the 58 public secondary schools Port Harcourt City, Rivers State. The non-proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 550 senior secondary school students for the study (275 males and 275 females). The instrument for data collection was a 65-item questionnaire titled ‘Family Support and Socio-emotional Wellbeing Questionnaire (FSSWQ). The questionnaire was designed on a four-point scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Strongly Disagree (SD) and Disagree (D) with scores 4, 3, 2, 1 respectively. Data were collected using the direct contact approach and the questionnaire return rate was 100%. Data obtained for this study were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations. Some of the findings are that: the male and female senior secondary school students differed in their opinions on how parenting style supports adolescent socio-emotional wellbeing, and parental self-esteem supports adolescent socio-emotional wellbeing. Amongst the recommendations for the study are that parents should be sensitized on the effectiveness of parental educational support to adolescents’ socio-emotional wellbeing, and parents should be supported through counselling on ways of developing self-esteem.