Parental Factors as Determinants of Conduct Disorder among In-School Adolescents in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to observe the link between parental factors and Conduct Disorder (CD) among Nigerian school adolescents. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study where multi-stage sampling techniques led to selecting 1006 participants (mean age = 15.4 years) from six secondary schools in Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwestern Nigeria. Participants responded to Socioeconomic Status (SES) scale, the Parenting Styles Scale (PSS) and Frequency of Delinquent Behaviour Scaling Instrument (FDBSI). A high prevalence of CD was observed. We also observed that parenting styles significantly influenced conduct disorders. Responsive parenting is not a significant predictor of CD, while control parenting significantly predicted CD. Parental occupation significantly influenced CD, with formal occupation types having higher mean scores for both fathers and mothers. Finally, there was a significant influence of socioeconomic status on conduct disorder among the participants. Findings concluded that there is a high prevalence of conduct disorder. Authoritarian and uninvolved parents with formal occupation and families with higher socioeconomic status were conduct disorder determinants among adolescents.