CHILD ABUSE AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS PREDICTING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

This study examines child abuse, class of study and gender as predictors of aggressive behavior among in-school adolescents in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted across-sectional survey design while a simple random sampling technique was used to select five secondary schools in the study area. Validated questionnaires were used to gather data from 195 in-school adolescents. Data collected were analyzed using multiple regression, t-test of independent samples and one-way analysis of variance. Three hypotheses were tested and accepted at a p < .05 level of significance. The result revealed that dimensions of child abuse jointly predicted aggressive behavior among in-school adolescents. Also, the result indicated that class of study significantly influences aggressive behavior. However, gender marginally influences aggressive behavior among study participants. The study concluded that child abuse and class of study are significant contributors to aggressive behavior. It is recommended that parents, teachers and other stakeholders should help to reduce incidence and prevalence of child abuse in order to reduce aggressive behavior.

Keywords: Aggressive behavior, child abuse, class of study, gender, in-school adolescents.

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