Marital Conflict and Parenting Practices among Families in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67487/gjmret.v2i5.285Keywords:
Marital Conflict, Parenting Practices, Marriage, Family, Uyo Local Government AreaAbstract
This study examined the influence of marital conflict on parenting practices among families in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Three objectives and the corresponding research questions and null hypotheses guided the study, which was anchored on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Bowlby’s Attachment Theory. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with a sample of 270 respondents, comprising parents and secondary school teachers, drawn from a population of 9,800. Data was collected using a structured instrument, the Marital Conflict and Parenting Practices Questionnaire (MCPPQ), which was validated by 3 experts, yielding a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.83. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that marital conflict had a statistically significant negative influence on parental monitoring, disciplinary consistency, and parent-adolescent communication among the sampled families. The study concluded that the quality of the marital relationship is a determinant of parenting practices that caregivers are able sustain at home. It was recommended that community-based marital counselling services be strengthened; that schools should incorporate structured parenting-support programmes for guardians experiencing marital difficulty; and that further longitudinal research be undertaken to examine how these dynamics evolve over time.
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