Influence of Domestic Violence on Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents in Secondary Schools in Zone B Senatorial District of Benue State: Implications for Counselling

This study was an attempt to examine the influence of domestic violence on psychological adjustment of adolescents in secondary schools in Zone B Senatorial District of Benue State Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of the study, three objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a survey research design. The population for the study was 35, 949 senior secondary school students in 85 public secondary schools in Zone B Senatorial District of Benue State. A sample of 379 students who are victims of Domestic Violence was used for the study. The sample size was selected using purposive sampling technique. A questionnaire titled “Domestic Violence and Psychological Adjustment Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. The questionnaire was validated by experts and its reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha Method where a coefficient of 0.94 was obtained. Data collected for the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics of Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions and Chi-Square statistic to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that domestic violence has significant negative influence on adolescents’ self-esteem and depression in Secondary schools in Zone B Senatorial District of Benue State. The finding also revealed that domestic violence significantly influence adolescents’ aggressive behaviors negatively. The researcher concluded that, domestic violence in homes has the tenacity to negatively influence adolescents’ psychological adjustment in secondary schools. The study recommended this school counsellors and minors should intensify efforts in the area of providing secondary school students who we supposed to domestic violence with ideas that can help them improve their self-esteem, skills and strategies like storytelling and sharing personal experiences that could limit depression among secondary school students. Both school authority and school counselors should intensity efforts at initiating programmes that could limit aggressive behaviours among Secondary school students who are exposed to domestic violence.