ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOURS AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA EDUCATION ZONE OF ENUGU STATE

ABSTRACT

This work studied environment determinants of maladaptive behaviours among adolescents in senior secondary schools in Nsukka education zone of Enugu State. The descriptive survey research method was used for the research. The population of the study was 4801 students in public schools out of which a sample size of 300 was selected using   ballot sampling technique. A questionnaire was formulated, guided by the three research questions. 300 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents and a hundred percent return was made. The data gathered from the respondents were analysed using mean scores and standard deviation while Z-test statistics was used to test the three null hypotheses. Results revealed that maladaptive behaviours are exhibited amongst adolescents; maladaptive behaviours are attributed to watching of bad films, can lead to dropping out of school and could be controlled by stopping adolescents from watching films, teaching of good morals and promotion of good value system. It was recommended among others that adolescents should be stopped from watching bad films, pasting photographs on bulletin boards. Suggestion for further studies was also made.