Family Type, Parental Educational status and Tendency for Secondary School Student’s Cult Activities in Calabar Education Zone Cross River State, Nigeria. 1 0

Abstract

This study investigated Family Type and Parental Educational Status as Predictors of Secondary School Students’ Tendency Toward Cult Activities in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. The increasing prevalence of cult-related behaviours among adolescents has become a major concern for educators, parents, and policymakers due to its implications for school safety and students’ psychosocial development. The ex-post facto (causal-comparative) research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 6,553 Senior Secondary One (SS1) students, from which a sample of 649 students was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire titled Family Type, Parental Educational Status and Tendency for Cult Activities Questionnaire (FTPESTCAQ). The instrument’s reliability coefficient was established using Cronbach’s alpha (α = .70). Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that family type significantly influenced students’ tendency toward cult activities, with students from polygamous families exhibiting higher tendencies than those from monogamous families. Additionally, parental educational status had a significant effect on students’ tendency toward cult activities, with students from lower educational backgrounds showing higher susceptibility. The study concludes that family structure and parental education 4 critical determinants of adolescents’ behavioural outcomes. It is recommended among others, that parents should be encouraged to provide consistent supervision, emotional support, and open communication with their children, regardless of family structure, in order to reduce their children’s tendency toward cult activities. This study investigated Family Type and Parental Educational Status as Predictors of Secondary School Students’ Tendency Toward Cult Activities in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. The increasing prevalence of cult-related behaviours among adolescents has become a major concern for educators, parents, and policymakers due to its implications for schoolsafety and students’ psychosocial development. The ex-post facto (causal-comparative) research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 6,553 Senior Secondary One (SS1) students, from which a sample of 649 students was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire titled Family Type, Parental Educational Status and Tendency for Cult Activities Questionnaire (FTPESTCAQ). The instrument’s reliability coefficient was established using Cronbach’s alpha (α = .70). Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that family type significantly influenced students’ tendency toward cult activities, with students from polygamous families exhibiting higher tendencies than those from monogamous families. Additionally, parental educational status had a significant effect on students’ tendency toward cult activities, with students from lower educational backgrounds showing higher susceptibility. The study concludes that family structure and parental education 4 critical determinants of adolescents’ behavioural outcomes. It is recommended among others, that parents should be encouraged to provide consistent supervision, emotional support, and open communication with their children, regardless of family structure, in order to reduce their children’s tendency toward cult activities.