Aggressive Behaviour among Secondary School Students in Ibadan, Nigeria: Relationship with Family Functioning and Parenting Styles

Abstract

The cause of aggressive behaviour in adolescent students is largely related to the family environment. Awareness regarding family functioning and parenting styles is crucial in modern day parenting, and relevant in the prevention of aggression in adolescent students.This study adopted a descriptive cross sectional design, and four hundred senior secondary II (SS 2) students, selected from four secondary schools in Ibadan participated in it. Aggressive behaviour, family functioning and parenting styles were measured by the Aggression Questionnaire (AGQ), the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD- GD) and the Parenting Style Inventory (PSI-II) respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16, and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Students who perceived their family to be healthy had significantly, lower mean scores on the measure of aggression than students who perceived their family as unhealthy. Responsiveness and autonomy granting parenting styles had negative influence on aggressive behaviour in the students, while demandingness parenting style was positively related to aggression. The mean score on aggression scale was significantly higher in male than female students. Perceived healthy family, responsive parenting, and autonomy granting had significant negative relationship with aggressive behaviour in students, while demandingness and male gender predicted aggressive behaviour in them. These findings suggest that the family plays important protective and risk functions in the development of aggressive behaviour in students. The implication of these findings for preventive intervention was discussed.