PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE ON EMOTIONAL HEALTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE

Every human institution is faced with one problem or another, the problem facing the family unit today is mostly divorce. The study examined the perceived effects of parental divorce on emotional health of secondary school students in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State. Specifically, this study investigated if (i) stress (ii) anxiety and (iii) fear are effects of parental divorce on emotional health of secondary school students in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State. The population comprised of all government secondary schools in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State. Ilorin West Local Government had a total number of forty-two (42) schools. A multi stage sampling technique consisting of stratified, proportionate and accidental sampling techniques was used to select 381 respondents for the study. A validated and reliable questionnaire was used for data collection. A correlation coefficient of 0.76r was obtained through split-half method using Cronbach Alpha. The demographic data of respondents was analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage, percentile was used for answering the research questions while inferential statistics of chi-square (x2) was used to analyse the postulated null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level.The findings revealed that;Stress is a perceived effect of divorce on emotional health with the cal. x2 value of 796.40 > the critical value of 16.92 at df 9 @ 0.05 alpha level; Anxiety is a perceived effect of divorce on emotional health with the cal. x2 value of 630.80 > the critical value of 16.92 at df 9 @ 0.05 alpha level and Fear is a perceived effect of divorce on emotional health with the cal. x2 value of 595.36 > the critical value of 16.92 at df 9 @ 0.05 alpha level. The study concluded that stress, anxiety and fear are perceived effects of divorce on emotional health of secondary school students in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State. It is therefore, recommended that School counsellors should organize a counselling session with parents, a marital education can reduce anxiety for their children and class teacher could also reduce the effect of divorce on school students.