PARENTING STYLES AND SUBSTANCE USE AS CORRELATES OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NORTH WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The researchers investigated parenting styles and substance use as correlates of aggressive behaviours among senior secondary school students in North West, Nigeria. Four (4) research objectives and hypotheses were stated and formulated to guide the study. A correlational research design was employed for the study. The population comprised of four hundred and forty one thousand, three hundred and fourteen (441,314) SSII students and a sample size of one thousand five hundred and thirty two (1,532) senior secondary school students were drawn and a multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study. Parenting Styles Questionnaire (PSQ), Substance Use Questionnaire (SUQ) and Aggressive Behaviours Questionnaire (ABQ) were the instruments used for collection of data. The instruments were validated by three (3) experts, two specialists in Educational Psychology and one in Test and Measurement while Cronbach’s Alpha analysis was used to establish the reliability coefficients of 0.74 for parenting styles, 0.79 for substance use and 0.87 for aggressive behaviours respectively were obtained. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) for bivariate relationships, all tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Key findings revealed that authoritative parenting style, authoritarian parenting style, permissive parenting style and substance use had a significant relationship with aggressive behaviours among secondary school students in North West, Nigeria. Recommendations such as; parents should adopt the authoritative parenting style by combining warmth, open communication, and firm discipline to nurture their children’s academic success and reduce aggressive behaviours among others.