PARENTAL CONJUGAL STABILITY AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

The study investigated parental conjugal stability as predictor of academic achievement among secondary school students in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State. The study used descriptive survey technique and four null hypotheses guided the study. A self-designed questionnaire tagged "Parental Conjugal Stability and Academic Achievement Questionnaire (PCSAAQ)" with a reliability value of 0.73 was used to generate data for the study. A sample of 150 participants (75 male and 75 female junior secondary school students) from five schools was selected using stratified sampling method. Data obtained were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a significant relationship between parental conjugal stability and academic achievement; thus, academic achievement of junior secondary school students is tied to their parents’ conjugal stability, the result also showed a significant relationship between parental conjugal stability and students’ cognitive ability; this implies that the cognitive ability of the junior secondary school students is a product of their parental conjugal stability. In addition, the result showed a significant relationship between parental conjugal stability and social interaction as the level of social interaction of the junior secondary school students was influenced by conjugal stability of their households. The result also indicated a significant gender difference in students’ social interaction. In light of these findings, it was recommended among others that schools should implement programmes that provide support for families, such as counseling services and workshops on conflict resolution to strengthen parental relationships and, in turn, enhance students' academic achievement and that schools should collaborate with communities and organizations to provide resources for families experiencing instability to mitigate the impact of parental conflict on students’ academic achievement.