IMPACT OF BROKEN HOMES ON THE HEALTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ENUGU EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of broken homes on the health of secondary school students in Enugu East LGA of Enugu State. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Specifically, three research questions and three corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 240 students: 120 from broken homes and 120 from intact homes. Data was collected using 2 instruments. The researchers' self-developed questionnaire was used to measure physical health, and the sexual and reproductive health outcomes of the students while the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale (A-DES) was used to measure their mental integrity. Data collected were analysed using the grand mean to answer the research questions and the t-test statistics to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that secondary school students from intact homes (grand mean = 2,75) have higher levels of physical health than their mates from broken homes (grand mean = 2.28). Secondary school students from intact homes scored an average score of 27 in the A-DES while those from broken homes scored 40 indicating a dissociation level of pathological significance in those from broken homes. More students from broken homes were sexually active (18.4%), have had an STl (6.7%) and have ever been pregnant (~.2%). Among the students from broken homes, 10.8 percent are sexually active, 1.7 percent have had an STI while 0.8 percent have ever been pregnant. The test of significance showed a significant difference between the physical health (T-stat: 2.573, Df: 5, T-crit: 2.571, p=0.049) and mental health (T-stat: 9.13, T-crit: 1.97, p=.OOO) of students from broken and intact homes respectively. A no statistical significance was observed in the sexual and reproductive health of the students (T-stat: 1.317, T-crit: 2.571, p=O.245). The researchers, among others recommended that policy makers should make policies designed to encourage and incentivize stable marriage relationship and, proffer sanctions on broken homes.