CHILD ABUSE – RELATED NEGLECT AS PREDICTORS OF MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS

Abstract

The study investigated child abuse – related neglect as predictors of mental health challenges among senior secondary school adolescents in Port Harcourt Metropolis. Correlational research design was used for the study. Two objectives, two research questions were answered while seven corresponding null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A sample of 400 senior secondary school adolescents from a population of 5,326 students was used for the study. Multi Stage Sampling Technique was used to compose the sample for the study. . Instruments for data collection were titled Childhood Neglect Questionnaire and Mental Health Challenges Scale. The reliabilities of the instruments were estimated using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method of internal consistency. The following reliability coefficients were obtained for the study: Childhood Neglect Questionnaire 0.780, and mental health challenges scale 0.917. Research questions were answered using simple regression while the hypotheses were tested using t- test associated with simple regression. Findings revealed among others that there is a moderate positive prediction between the four types of neglect and mental health challenges among senior secondary school adolescents in Port Harcourt and the prediction is also significant. Based on the findings, it was recommended that parents should check on the emotional well-being of their children to enable them identify early signs of mental health issues and proffer interventions