Keywords

Family Type, Monogamy, Polygamy, Academic Adjustment, Junior Secondary.

Introduction

Academic adjustment of junior secondary school students can depend on a number of factors. Among such factors widely reported by researchers as exerting influence on academic adjustment of students is family type. It is however uncertain on the degree of such influence. Adjustment refers to the behavioural process by which humans and other animals maintain equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and the obstacles of their environments.

Adjustment, as a process describes and explains the ways and means of an individual’s adaptation to himself and his environment without reference to the quality of such adjustment or its outcome in terms of success or failure. It is an organizational behaviour in life situations at home, at school, at work in growing up and in ageing. It helps one to keep out basic impulses at tolerable levels, to believe in one’s own abilities and to achieve desired goals. Tinto (2015) described academic adjustment of students as the degree of students՚ adaptation to academic manner of their educational life. Baker & Syrik (2009) defined academic adjustment as “Having a positive attitude toward setting academic goals, completing academic requirements, the effectiveness of the efforts to meet academic goals, and being successful in the academic environment”. Successful performance of students are understood not only by their hardworking effort, but also, by their highly well situation of adjustment to the environment which they choose to start their educational life. Weiss and Kiel (2020) acknowledged that there are critical situations relating to students with emotional and behavioural problems in inclusive German secondary schools were analysed and identified behaviours and behavioural patterns that impede or even terminate the inclusive education of students with emotional and behavioural disorders (Tom, 2020; Stella, 2019).

Unfortunately, there has been a growing rate of academic maladjustment exhibited by junior secondary school students. This has become a major concern amongst stakeholders in the education sector, parents, caregivers and government. The prevalence of academic maladjustment among junior secondary school students is disheartening. This could stem the struggles to navigate the turbulent adolescent period.

Maladjustment can be corrected in students. Sutherland et al. (2018) remarked that improving social, emotional, and behavioural outcomes of students with and at-risk for Emotional and Behavioural Disorder (EDB) remains a challenge for educators, and it has long been noted that teachers do not consistently use effective instructional practices with students with EDB.

According to Good & Hillary (2019) adjustment is the process of finding and adopting modes of behaviour suitable either to the environment or to the changes in the environment. It is the process by which a student maintains a balance between his/her needs and the circumstances that influence the satisfaction of those needs. Therefore, adjustment influences the achievement and personality development of the student in school (Estevez et al., 2005).

At the secondary school level, education is supposed to prepare students for successful transition to postsecondary education and increase their chances of becoming motivated life-long learners and productive members of society. Ensuring the quality of students’ educational outcomes has a long-standing history in secondary schools and remains the top priority at the policy and school levels. However, students with their experiences in everyday school life, who are, at the same time, early adolescents going through the time of intense changes associated with pubertal development, are likely to deal with a combination of different stressors that may instigate the development of school alienation and hamper students’ academic success (Eccles et al., 2008). Along with pressures that are brought to bear on them, students are almost inevitably confronted with the necessity to act productively in the learning environment from which they are alienated, fulfilling increasing demands of the education sector (Hyman et al., 2003). Existing theory and research show that students with higher levels of school alienation tend to exhibit lower academic performance than students with lower levels of alienation in school, for instance the study of Buhs & Ladd (2001).

Internationally, there is a growing recognition on the importance of academic adjustment, achievement and guidance and counselling in schools. A school-based survey of U.S. high school students was conducted. Data from additional questions were used to measure five dietary behaviours, three physical activity behaviours, two sedentary behaviours, seven substance use behaviours, five sexual risk behaviours, five violence-related behaviours and three suicide-related behaviours. The dietary behaviours included (for the 7 days before the survey): ate breakfast on all 7 days; ate fruit or drank 100% fruit juices one or more times per day; ate vegetables one or more times per day; drank one or more glasses of milk per day; and did not drink a can, bottle, or glass of soda or pop. The result indicated that academic achievement was low due to these maladjusted behaviours in school.

In another study, Modisaotsile (2012) carried out a systemic evaluation of students’ performance in South Africa. The study conducted in Grade 3 showed very low levels of literacy among learners. Scores for the Grade 3 learners averaged 39% for reading comprehension. The second cycle of systemic evaluations conducted revealed only a limited change in learners’ achievement, namely 36% for literacy.

For example, in the North West Province the pass rates in 2016, 2017 and 2018 were 54.0%, 52.1% and 58.2%, respectively (Riekert, 2018). All major stakeholders: learners, counsellors, educators, parents, employers and the National Ministry of Education are concerned about the problem of poor student performance in the Grade 12 examinations in South Africa. This low internal efficiency of the education system simply implies more wastage and increases in the cost of education.

By failing to complete their high school education within the minimum time, the social cost of secondary education increases without necessarily increasing the social benefits. The consequences lead to social costs of billions of Rand. Whilst developed countries like the UK and the US concentrate on the improvement of the quality of education offered in schools, in South Africa more attention is needed on improving the pass rates in high schools. Poor student performance in Grade 12 examinations represents a challenge to all South Africans. Therefore, the need to gain a better picture of the causes and solutions to the problem cannot be over-emphasised. To this end, research was conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data to determine the causes of the high failure rate in Grade 12.

In Nigeria, the falling standard of education in the nation is becoming so high, especially in our secondary schools. The performance of Nigerian secondary school students in external exams showed 98% failure rate in the 2017 November/December Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO); out of the total number of 230,682 candidates who sat for the examination, only 4.223 obtained credit level passes and above in five subjects including English, Mathematics and Geography. The results from the West African Examination Council (WAEC), shows a trend in the failure rate of students in geography. The result showed a failure rate of 44.07% in 2014, 43.02% in 2015, 42.6% in 2016, 33.0% in 2017 and in 2018 only 29.27% pass was recorded, indicating a 70.73% failure rate. The WAEC result of 2019 showed that less than 42.6% of the students who registered and sat for the examination passed essential subjects (WAEC, 2019; Effiom & Esuabana, 2020).

As a consequence of the deteriorating student performance, the education sector has received serious backlashes from a cross-section of Liberians including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who had called for its total overhaul, stressing the need for concerted efforts to address the situation. As an affirmation, Liberian education sector stakeholders at 2015 Joint Education Sector Review (JESR) in Grand Bassa County (one of Liberia’s 15 counties) acknowledged the predicament and carved a joint resolution, declaring Liberia’s education as a state of national emergency. In their wisdom, extraordinary actions were needed to redeem the sector, reemphasizing the necessity for collectivism to mend the sector. In an apparent response, the Liberian Ministry of Education has set out a number of priorities in this direction; the most paramount among them relates to dealing with underperformance of students by endeavouring to enhance students learning outcomes. However, there is no proven tested model that guarantees that the implementation of the priorities would fully yield the much anticipated improved learning outcomes (Pintrich et al., 2013).

One area that the students must adjust is in the area of his academics given that the school is different from the home and the type of care and concern that may be provided could be completely different. The home is the first place of learning for the child. The quality of the home environment and family goes a long way in determining the eventual personality and performance of students. According to Esuabana (2019), most parents today attribute poor academic achievement of children to the ineffectiveness of teachers in school. Parents have failed to recognize the fact that a conducive school environment is necessary for a good academic achievement of students but does not relegate the place of the home where the child actually starts learning. Some parents have not realized that a stimulating family type could spur up a potential mediocre into an intellectual giant while an inhibiting family type could turn a genius child into a mediocre. The family is the foundation for which learning activities of any child takes off. The family is the foundation upon which the subsequent levels of education are built. It is against this background that this study examined the influence of family types on junior secondary school students’ academic adjustment in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria.

This study is premised on Self-determination Theory. Self-determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) noted is an extensive motivational theory which developed over decades of empirical research. Fundamentally, SDT states that development and psychological growth is natural to the human experience. Essentially, people instinctively experience a drive to master challenges and form a cohesive sense of self by the integration of his or her experiences. SDT consists of 4 micro theories; cognitive evaluation, organismic integration, causality orientations, and basic needs. Cognitive evaluation theory explains the effects of the environment and social context on facilitating or undermining of intrinsic motivation. Organismic integration theory focuses on the internalization process of completing a behavior, in other words, how people can move along the motivation spectrum becoming more self-determined in engaging in behavior as they start to internalize ownership of the activity. Causality orientations theory addresses individual differences in the predisposition toward a more self-determined behavior. Finally, basic needs theory describes basic psychological needs that are universal human and vital for well-being. These needs are autonomy, relatedness, and competence. SDT has been shown to be related to psychological and physical health in many domains. In a longitudinal study of high school students, time autonomous goal regulation predicted life satisfaction, positive effect and self-esteem positively and negative affect negatively at the two year follow-up (Litalien et al., 2013). With regard to health behaviors, patients’ need satisfaction was positively related to perceived dental competence as well as self-determined motivation for dental hygiene (Halvari et al., 2013). SDT has also been shown to be related to adjustment in many domains. A review looking at children’s adjustment to parental divorce revealed that children were better adjusted if parents were autonomy supportive and, despite divorce’s potential threat to GNS, that if the basic psychological needs were still met children could thrive (Friendly & Grolnick, 2008). Within a population of HIV positive and AIDS participants, intrinsic motivation behind personal strivings was related positively to well-being and autonomy was related to adjustment to their life threatening disease.

Also, the developmental systems perspective (Lerner, 2004) posits that human development is a dynamic and relational phenomenon, shaped by reciprocally acting and mutually influential factors related to persons, place, and time. Individual and context constitute an intertwined system that continues to develop over the lifespan. The developmental systems framework guides researchers interested in understanding and promoting positive human development by suggesting a number of factors to consider (Lerner, 2004). First, it is important to identify attributes of the individual that contribute to positive and negative development. In the case of international students, demographic factors such as country of origin have been associated with adaptation outcomes (Mori, 2000). The second factor Lerner (2004) suggested is the influence of relationships on individual development. Our lives are embedded in social relationships, which themselves undergo transitions. International students are faced with a profound change in their social relations and their social support during their sojourn has been implicated in a number of positive adjustment outcomes.

Also The Family Composition Model which argues that two parent families are the ideal family structure for children. According to the theory, children that are brought up by single parents will suffer lower levels of happiness, security and welfare than those from two parent families. This is because such children lose social capital, which refers to the emotional, economic and educational support that parents offer their children. For instance, Sara & Gary (1994) concluded that the decision of parents to live away from each other damages, and often times, destroys the social capital that might have been available to children had they lived together. Impliedly, when parents do not live together, children lose a close tie to the non-residential parent. Such parent does not feel emotionally attached to the children and feels less likely to take up financial responsibility of their children.

The issue of the expansion of academic failure among the youths is a threat that has stirred both the government and stakeholders in the face. Adjustment patterns of students differ with their level of intelligence. College students have adjustment problem in home also. They have difficulties with parents, siblings due to shyness, aggressiveness. They have academic adjustment problem due to new academic pattern, environment and faculties. Motivation to learn, taking action to meet academic demands and academic un satisfaction are components of academic adjustment. Psychological distress, somatic distress, anxiety, low self-esteem, depression have been cause of dropping out.

A study on school maladjustment in children and adolescents in Spain was carried out. School maladjustment can be understood as students’ broad pattern of psychological uneasiness in the school context, which can be caused by different factors. Taking into account the relevance of the school context in children’s and adolescents’ lives, it is important to analyze their adjustment. This study explores school maladjustment in 1843 children and adolescents aged 11 to 18 from public and grant-assisted private schools in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain). The students filled out the self-report of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Results showed that clinically significant school maladjustment increased considerably in the age ranges of 13-14 and 17-18 years old. Moreover, statistical analysis supported that especially boys aged 13-14 scored higher in school maladjustment. Different predictive factors of school maladjustment were found, depending on the age ranges, though some factors were present in all age groups: A typicality and Sense of inadequacy were risk factors, while good Relations with parents acted as a protective factor. Implications of these results for the design of intervention and prevention programs in the school context are discussed.

Arogundade & Akpa (2009) studied the psychosocial variables as correlates of university maladjustment behaviour. The goal of the study was to examine the influence of some psychosocial variables like personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness), gender (male and female) and age in predicting university maladjustment. The participants, (M-42 & F-92) were 134 students in the age range 16-30 years randomly selected from a private University in Nigeria. The Big Five Personality inventory (BFI) and University Maladjustment Scale (UMS) were used to collect data. Multiple Regression Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test statistics were used to analyze the data. The result showed that all the psychosocial variables jointly predicted 87% of the University maladjustment variance. The implications in terms of screening fresh intakes into universities and minimizing student unrest were discussed.

There is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of education as a big problem that is hindering the posterity of the nation in terms of man power resources. Most students in secondary school experience academic problem that displays itself in the form of academic poor achievement. Many educational authorities have sought to find out the reasons for the descending trend in the academic achievement of secondary school students. Aremu (2000) postulated that many factors have been credited to poor academic achievement. This researcher identifies environmental condition and the nature of social interaction in the family as a factor that may have some positive or negative influence on the academic achievement of a child (Akinboye, 2012).

Adesehinwa & Aremu (2010) posited that factors resident in child, family, society, government and the school may be composite causative effects for these downtrend; they, however concluded that there is a need for each of these variables to be considered extensively, hence the focus of this study is to critically consider family type and effects on academic achievements of secondary school students. The family, being a powerful influence on the child and its importance as a primary agent of socialization could in no doubt enhance or hinder the academic achievement of the child depending on the social climate in the family. Variance in psycho-social emotional fortification in the monogamy and polygamy family background could be an indicator to high or low academic achievement of students.

Adebule (2004) Research on this aspect has not been exhaustively looked into in Nigeria especially in Ikom Education Zone where the two types of family system is actively practiced bearing in mind the intervening effect of high and low socio-economic status and emotional stability of students which is a pre- requisite to academic achievement. Wilkins (2006) emphasized that in the monogamous family, favourable learning environment is created, while Adika (2007) noted that conflicts are relatively easier to solve in the monogamous than in the polygamous families. Moreover, less psychological disturbance is envisaged in the former than in the latter. Students from polygamous families are therefore more likely to experience more problems than students from monogamous families. This will invariably affect their academic achievement. This is because psychological problems are potential sources of trouble with learning (Rodgers & Rose, 2001).

The family type and the immediate in which the children find themselves has a strong determinate on their academic achievement in school (Koerner & Jacobson, 2004) It is also referred to as the physical and psychological conditions that affect children (Ogbemudia & Aiasa, 2013). The parents or guardian of the students are responsible for providing the right home environment that will facilitate effective learning for their wards. Furthermore, in student’s home environment, some factors that influences their academic performances include: parental educational background, occupation, economic status, marital status and home location; family size and peer group.

Ekanem (2004) in a meta-analysis with children from monogamous and polygamous homes found that the home environment which inculcate the family type means the family background of the students; this includes all the human and material resources present at the home that affects the student’s education and living, such as the parent’s level of education, their occupation, socio-economic status and socializing facilities available in the house, number of siblings and even family type. Thus, the home is the basic institution for providing the child’s primary socialization and laying the educational foundation for the child upon which the other agents of socialization are built. The education received by a child from parents and significant others at home is most likely to have a highly significant and dominant effects on the behaviours of the child later in life. What the child learns at home and how his/her family motivates him/her towards education contributes to the child’s success or failure at school. Even though, environment also plays a very remarkable role in the life and educational success of every individual (Coleman, 1991).

As a result of the need to train the young people, the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2006 produced a document National Policy on Education (NPE) to guide and help the home and schools in their bid to achieve this great task. The NPE contains the national objectives for education, secondary school education in particular should: Provide all primary school graduates with the opportunity to further their education at a higher level irrespective of sex, religion or ethnic background. Cater for differences in interests, talents for opportunity and future roles. Preserve cultural heritage by developing and promoting the Nigerian languages, arts and culture. Foster national unity by emphasizing the divers common ties that unite Nigerians and raise a generation of people who can think for themselves, respects the views and feelings of others, respects the dignity of labour, be a patriotic and good citizens.

The impact of family type on secondary school students’ academic performance in Ondo State, Nigeria was carried out by Akomolafe & Olorunfemi-Olabisi (2011). The results showed that family type significantly influenced academic performance of secondary school students. On the bases of the findings, it is suggested that parents should be given adequate training on how best they can assist their children to attain maximum success irrespective of their family type. Mesidor & Sly (2016) studied the actors that contribute to the adjustment of International students. Leaving home to attend college is an important milestone for college students. However, the transition from home to college can be challenging, especially for students studying abroad. In this article, the authors explore factors that contribute to the academic, cultural, social and psychological adjustments of international students. Adjustment issues include psychological distress such as homesick, depression and anxiety. How does monogamous family differ from polygamous family in terms of academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria?.

Method

The design adopted was the ex-post facto method in examining the influence of family types on academic adjustment among junior secondary school in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria because the researcher had no control of the independent variable as its manifestation had already occurred.

Participants

The population for this study consisted of all the JSS 3 in the public secondary schools in Calabar Education Zone of the Cross River State, totaling 5, 575. A sample of 725 JSS 3 students of public secondary schools in Calabar Education Zone of the State was drawn representing 13% of the population using simple random sampling method.

Measures

The instrument for data collection was a self developed instrument entitled “Family types and academic adjustment-questionnaire (FTAA-Q)”. Two experts from educational measurement and evaluation validated the instrument. This helped the researcher to ensure that the items cover adequately all the behavioural domains that were measured relative to the content area. Using the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient, the reliability estimate was found to be 0.96

Data Analysis

Data was analyzed based on information obtained from the completed questionnaire. The researchers analyzed the data using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics used were mean and standard deviation. The inferential statistics used were Independent t-test analysis. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance and 723 degrees of freedom. The research question stipulated thus: To what extent does a family type influence academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria?

Results

To answer this research question, the mean was computed from the frequency distribution of the responses. The result of the computation is shown in (Table 1).

Table 1 Respondents Mean Ratings on the Influence of Family Types on Academic Adjustment Among Junior Secondary School Students in Calabar Education Zone
S/N	Academic Adjustment	Mean	Opinion
1	I get upset when I do not understand what my teacher teaches.	3.75	Accepted
2	I cannot stand being criticized by my school mates.	3.34	Accepted
3	I like doing my classroom assignments	2.95	Accepted
4	The classroom is so boring to me	3.72	Accepted
5	I enjoy interactive sections in the class	3.19	Accepted
	Total	3.39	Accepted

The data in (Table 1) revealed the respondents’ opinion on academic adjustment. The result showed that all the five items in this cluster had mean values of 3.75, 3.34, 2.95, 3.72 and 3.19 and a mean of means value of 3.39 respectively. As the mean values are all above the cut of point of 2.49. The indication is that in the opinion of the respondents, family types is accepted as an influence on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross Rive State.

The hypothesis stipulated that there is no significant influence of family type on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students. The independent variable in this hypothesis is family type with two categories monogamy and polygamy family types. The dependent variable is academic adjustment among students. To test this hypothesis, family types was compared in relation to students’ academic adjustment using independent t-test. The result of the analysis is presented in (Table 2).

Table 2 Summary of Independent Sample T-Test Analysis of the Influence of Family Types on Adjustment Among Junior Secondary School Students (N=725)
Variables	N		SD	t-cal	p-value
Monogamy	450	15.34	4.95
Polygamy	259	14.3	3.19	3.396	0.003

The result of the analysis as presented in Table 2 revealed that the calculated t-value of 3.396 is greater than the critical t-value of 1.960 at 0.05 level of significance and 723 degrees of freedom. With this result, the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant influence of family type on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students was rejected. This result indicated that family types have a significant influence on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. This implies that junior secondary school students who live with only one father and mother are usually adjusted academically than those who are from polygamous family.

Discussion of Findings

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of family type on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students. The result of data analysis revealed that there is a significant influence of family type on academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. The family, being a powerful influence on the child and its importance as a primary agent of socialization could in no doubt enhance or hinder the academic adjustment of the child depending on the social climate in the family. Variance in psycho-social emotional fortification in the family background could be an indicator to high or low academic adjustment of students, bearing in mind the intervening effect of high and low socio-economic status and emotional stability of students which is a pre-requisite to academic adjustment. The findings is in harmony with that by Ekanem (2004) who found that the home environment which inculcate the family type means the family background of the students; this includes all the human and material resources present at the home that affects the student’s education and living, such as the parent’s level of education, their occupation, socio-economic status and socializing facilities available in the house, number of siblings and even family type.

Over a period of time, it has been observed that students exposed to the same lessons by the same teachers perform differently when they are evaluated. This shows that outside the school environment, other factors influence students’ academic adjustment. Also differences in the academic adjustment of students from monogamous and polygamous homes cannot be traced to school environment. Hence, many other uncontrolled variables can be responsible for academic performance of students generally, secondary school students inclusive. The family type has a strong influence on students’ emotional and psychological stability on students’ academic achievement as lack of good home foundation for pupils as cause of poor performance by students. This is because home factors, student factors and institutional capacity as the causes while, other studies consider family background the most important and most weighty factor in determining the academic performance attained by the student. Among family factors of greatest influence are social class variables and the educational and family environment.

The environmental condition and the nature of social interaction that goes on in the family may have some positive or negative influence on the academic achievement of a child. One of the tasks of Education is to train young people to become useful members of the society and this training begins at home in the informal way. The home of the child is the first place he/she enters when born into the world by parents. A home is a place where pupils live with their parents or guardian and it is the place where they are groomed. It is a place where the child begins to learn the norms and values of the society. The findings agreed with that of findings which showed that being a part of a religious group promotes conformity such as going to classes or completing assignments. Alcohol and substance abuse are one of the most important factors in destroying a person’s education or career.

The family is a social unit in any society and it is the source of early stimulation and experience of the child. The home influences the child at the most earliest possible time of his life at a time when his mind is most receptive. It provides the first impression which may last through the whole life of the child. The child often sees the parents, siblings and things in their immediate environment to be most significant and they are capable of promoting or diminishing him in self-worth and academic performance.

The finding supported Billings (2012) who argued that children from such homes become delinquent because they are most often denied security, protection and love that should come from both parents and these affect their academic activities negatively. In the same claimed that children from single parents are more likely to show, to a large extent, the effect of under-nourishment, illness, insufficient rest as well as negative attitude towards school, which manifest in infancy, which is a factor that can affect achievement and performance negatively. Single parent families have on the average, lower income than two parent families and are therefore, more constrained in ensuring adequate financial resources to meet their children’s learning needs. It is usually more difficult for single parents to provide and maintain a supportive learning environment for their children since they must cope with the double responsibility of work and child rearing.

The finding also agrees with Collins & Repilski (2006) who remarked that family instability in the home influences the learning capabilities of a child either positively or negatively. This is because, both part of the lives of the parents are being emulated by their children, whether negatively or positively. This influences the children’s readiness to learn even before they go to school.

Consequently, evidence has shown that levels of adolescent parent-relationship vary considerably and high levels are not necessarily seen as optimal (Peterson & Leigh, 1990). Although conflict is still considered to be a normal part of adolescent parent relationships, higher levels of intensity are associated with hostility and the limited potential for future positive interactions (Laursen, 2005). Owen & Cox (2007) reported that links from marital conflict to children attachment security were explained through conflict-induced threats to mother child and father-child security as well as through changes in the quality of parent child interactions. Frequency of the parent-adolescent relationship has been shown to vary across the stages of adolescence (early adolescence ages 10-12; mid adolescence ages 13-16; and late adolescence ages 17-22) (Allison & Schultz, 2004).

The importance of attending class cannot be over emphasized. Studies have indicated that 80% of success is attributable to class attendance. It is absolutely vital that a child attends class regularly. Missing a class should be a rare occurrence; something that happens at most once or twice a semester. If you miss class more than this, it will interfere with your learning and have a negative effect on your performance and your grade,” he further stated. He opined that a prerequisite to success in any endeavor is "showing up", and classes are no exception. If a student is not showing up to class, he is forfeiting every opportunity provided in the classroom.

Single parent households typically have the least resources and thus, would be expected to have worse outcomes relating to children in married or cohabiting unions (Reynolds & Kamphus, 2000). Furthermore, Rogers and Rose (2001) stated that adolescents who often come from unstable homes feel insecure, over tense, greatly disturbed and rarely emotionally stable. These children have no socialization background from home through positive parent interaction for them to settle down and concentrate effectively for academic work, which often depress their educational attainment and so lead to maladjustment to school work. Stated that parents' involvement in learning activities has substantial emotional and intellectual benefits for children. He observed, however, that because supportive and strong families are significant for school success, teachers confront increasing challenges as many children experience severe family disruption and upheaval. Although it is acknowledged that families are perhaps the most substantial influence on children's school success, it is not always clear which family influences are the most important. In addition, research findings are inconclusive about the extent to which relationships between family interactions and academic performance are independent of a child's family background and family structure.

Implications for Counselling

The study will be of great benefit to the family and school counsellors in the following ways:

1. The findings may reveal to counsellors, the actual causes of and remedy to academic maladjustment among students.

2. Counsellors should be aware of strategies with which to assist the students in proper academic adjustment.

3. School counsellors will abreast themselves with the current family counselling therapeutic interventions to use for students of this grade.

4. Another important point is the need to create a comfortable and trustworthy counselling environment for students.

5. Family counselors will take reconciliationary measures to helping people with broken homes.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that family types significantly influence academic adjustment among junior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. Based on the conclusion of the study, it was concluded that:

1. Counsellors should give adequate attention to the academic needs of the students from polygamous families in other to enhance their academic success in school.

2. Counsellors and school administrators should regularly hold Parent-Teacher Association meeting to create avenue for the two bodies to discuss the needs of the students and how best the parents can assist the students to attain maximum success irrespective of their family type.

3. Parents should devote more of their time to the upholding of their children by providing academic imperative like textbooks, good nutrition, writing materials etc pay less attention to their business or other activities. This would no doubt bridge the gap between these families.

4. Counsellors should give the parents orientation properly on family structure, as broken and polygamous home irrespective of their believe may pose devastating effect on students’ academic adjustment.

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Received: 07-Sep-2022, Manuscript No. AELJ-22-12526; Editor assigned: 08-Sep-2022, Pre QC No. AELJ-22-12526(PQ); Reviewed: 22- Sep-2022, QC No. AELJ-22-12526; Revised: 26-Sep-2022, Manuscript No. AELJ-22-12526 (R); Published: 29-Sep-2022