Relationship Between Parental Marital Status And Students Self-Esteem Among Secondary School Students In Gichugu Division, Kirinyaga, Kenya

Abstract

The parental marital status determines the family environment in which the child is born and brought up. The family types are either single or two parents' families. It is in the family that a child experiences love or hatred and the two have an effect on the development of self-esteem. Self-esteem influences the whole of individual's day to day activities, affecting thoughts and beliefs about the world and affects all relationships negatively or positively. As such, this study sought to find the relationship between students' self-esteem and parental marital status among secondary school students in Gichugu division, Kirinyaga-Kenya. This study measured the self-esteem levels of students living with the single parents and a control group of students who lived with two parents. The study was an expost factor which employed survey method. The 274 Form Three students filled a questionnaire that consisted of personal data and self-esteem scale. Research results in this field indicated that most of the students living with two parent registered higher levels of self-esteem than the students living with one parent. Teacher counselors should therefore come up with programmes on how to enhance self-esteem on students from such families.