Psycho-Demographic Prevalence of Truancy among Adolescents in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State
Ukwuije, Chinedu Kelechi *
Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study investigated the Psycho-demographic prevalence of truancy among adolescents in Ihiala local government area of Anambra State. The study employed a descriptive survey design. The sample of 300 students was used for the study using simple random sampling (balloting). Four research questions were answered while four hypotheses were tested in the study. The instrument for the study was a questionnaire tagged “Psycho-demographic prevalence of Truancy Questionnaire (PDPTQ)”. The data collected were analyzed with mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested with z-test. From the analysis, it was concluded that male exhibit truant behaviour than female students. Also, the finding of the study showed that fear significantly influence prevalence of truancy among adolescence students in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Parents and guardians should collaborate with school authorities and teachers to monitor students in and out of school compound to reduce the incidence of truancy.
Keywords: Adolescents, fear, gender, prevalence of truancy