PREMARITAL COHABITATION AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined premarital cohabitation as a predictor of academic engagement among students in public universities in Anambra state. It was guided by three hypotheses tested at .05 level of significance. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The population of the study comprised 242 students drawn from the study areas. The convenience sampling technique was adopted in drawing the sample of the study. Two major instruments were employed for data collection. They include: Premarital Cohabitation Questionnaire (PCQ) and Academic Engagement Questionnaire. (AEQ). The face and content validity of the instruments were established by two experts. The internal consistency reliability index of the instruments were also established through the use of Cronbach Alpha method which yielded a coefficient value of 0.96 for PCQ and 0.93 for AEQ. The data collected were statistically analyzed using simple multiple regression analysis. The result of the study showed among others that premarital cohabitation significantly predicts academic engagement of male and female students in public universities in Anambra state. The results further show that premarital
cohabitation significantly predicts academic engagement of urban and rural based universities students. Finally, the study recommends that university management should provide accommodation for students on campus and discourage off-campus living among students which tend to encourage the practice of cohabitation with its attendant consequences on academic engagement.