Divorce And Child Development In Keffi Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, Nigeria
Alexander William, Adekola T.O Addy
Keywords: s: Divorce, low self-esteem, child development, Keffi, Nasarawa State
Abstract
Divorce is a global psychological and social phenomenon that has adversely affected the lives and behaviours of children and adolescents. In specific terms, divorce negatively impacts on children’s mental and physical health, as well as their academic and social development. Divorce may result in children having low self-esteem and more likely engaging in criminal behaviour. This study adopts the social learning theory as the theoretical lens of analyzing issues in this study. The study employs the descriptive cross-sectional research design which involved a multistage random sampling technique through which 400 respondents were drawn from the population of 142,900 persons. Pearson product-moment correlation was used to test the study’s hypotheses. Results of the study revealed that divorce has significant effect on the social and mental health of children in Keffi Local Government Area of Nassarawa State, Nigeria. The study concludes that the effects of divorce on child development manifest in forms of affected children having difficulties in forming healthy relationships, exhibition of low self-esteem and feelings of insecurity, increased behavioural problems such as aggression, disobedience, and hyperactivity, increased risk of substance abuse, feelings of abandonment and rejection, fear of the future and uncertainty about what life will be like, poor academic performance. The study recommends that town halls meetings should be organized by the government in conjunction with the religious leaders in order to enlighten both the community leaders and couples on the dire consequences of divorce on parents, their children and the society at large.
Author Biography
Alexander William
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal Unversity Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria
Adekola T.O Addy
Mental Health Department, Psychology Unit, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria