PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ADJUSTMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NSUKKA EDUCATION ZONE, ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study examined parental involvement and gender as predictors of academic adjustment among secondary school students in Nsukka Education Zone, Enugu State. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a predictive correlational survey research design. The population comprised 10,229 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) students in public secondary schools in Nsukka Education Zone during the 2025/2026 academic session. A sample of 404 students was selected using Taro Yamane’s formula and multi-stage sampling technique, out of which 392 valid responses were used for analysis. Data were collected using the Parental Involvement Questionnaire (PIQ) and Academic Adjustment Scale (AAS). The instruments were face-validated by experts, while reliability coefficients of 0.73 and 0.80 were obtained respectively using Cronbach’s Alpha. Data were analyzed using simple linear regression and Hayes’ PROCESS Macro (Model 1). The findings revealed that parental involvement had a significant positive moderate predictive power on academic adjustment (R = .488; R² = .238; p < .05), indicating that increased parental involvement enhances students’ academic adjustment. The study further revealed that gender, within the predictive model, had a significant moderate predictive power on academic adjustment (R = .497; R² = .247; F = 42.393; p < .05), indicating that gender significantly predicted academic adjustment among the students. It was concluded that parental involvement remains a critical family factor in promoting students’ academic adjustment, while gender also plays a significant role in shaping students’ adaptation to academic demands. The study recommended that parents should actively engage in their children’s academic activities, while schools should strengthen family–school collaboration and implement gender-sensitive support strategies to enhance students’ adjustment to academic demands.