PEER RELATIONS AND SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT AS CORRELATES OF EARLY ADOLESCENTS’ ADJUSTMENT AFTER TRANSITION TO JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN IBADAN

Abstract

Chronic school failure is associated with poor academic and emotional functioning. Consequently, children and adolescents with poor peer relations and school involvement may be particularly vulnerable to emotional problems and school maladjustment. Children and adolescents with poor adjustment also encounter considerable school and academic problems, including poor motivation, high dropout rates, and modest school achievement. The study therefore sought to investigate the influence of peer relations, school involvement on adjustment of early adolescents transiting in junior secondary schools.

The sample for this study consists of selected junior secondary school students from selected junior secondary schools in Ibadan.  Two hundred early adolescents comprising 100 males and 100 females participated in this study.  Their ages ranged between 13 and 15 years

The three assessment scales used in this study are Involvement in School scale(Berndt and Miller, 1990); Friendship Quality (Parker and Asher, 1993) and Personal-social adjustment scales (Akinboye, 1977) were used for the investigation. The three instruments have adequate psychometric properties. The Multiple Regression Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to analyse the data collected.