ISSN: 2375-4435
Ajaegbu OO
The study investigated impact of parental care and separation on aggressive behavior of adolescents in Owerri, Imo state. Bandura's Social Learning theory was used to examine the influence of parental care and separation on aggressive behavior of adolescents. Cross sectional survey research design was adopted while questionnaire was data collection tool for the study. The sample size consisted of two hundred and twenty (220) male and female secondary school students selected from eight (8) schools in Owerri. Their ages ranged from 13 to 17 years, with a mean and standard deviation ages of 14.8 and 1.34 respectively. A multi-stage (purposive and convenience) sampling method was adopted for the study. Parental care scale and Buss–Perry aggression scale were the instruments used for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential (2-way ANOVA) statistical methods were used for data analysis and were calculated using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results showed that; irrespective of parental care and separation, no aggression was found among adolescents in Owerri; Parental care had no impact on aggressive behavior of adolescents; Parental separation had no impact on aggressive behavior of adolescents. Finally, no statistically significant interaction influence of parental care and parental separation on aggressive behavior of adolescents was found. Suggestion was made that other variables which may lead to aggression among adolescents in Owerri be examined in further studies.