Impact of Marital Conflict on the Academic Performance of Public Secondary School Students in the Jalingo Educational Zone of Taraba State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study examines the impact of marital conflict on the academic performance of public secondary school students in the Jalingo educational zone of Taraba State, Nigeria. Recognizing the critical role of family stability in fostering positive relationships and educational outcomes, the research is anchored in Karl Marx’s Conflict Theory. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was employed to select 200 respondents comprising 40 students each from five purposively selected secondary schools drawn from the SS1 and SS2 student population. Data were collected using a structured instrument titled Marital Conflict and Students’ Academic Achievement Questionnaire (MCSAAQ). Analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), applying descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and Chi-Square tests to evaluate the hypotheses. Descriptive findings indicated that respondents generally agreed (mean scores above the 2.5 criterion) that emotional instability of parents, inadequate financial support, interference from extended family members, and spousal battering were influential factors affecting students’ academic performance. However, inferential analysis using the Chi-Square test revealed that none of these variables had a statistically significant effect on academic performance at the 0.05 alpha level. The study concludes that marital conflict does not exert a statistically significant influence on students’ academic achievement within the Jalingo educational zone. It recommends further investigation into alternative factors that may contribute to students’ academic outcomes.