Psychosocial Support, Social Competence and Psychological Well-Being as Correlates of School Adjustment among Form One Students in Murang’a County, Kenya
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Date
2024-03
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
School adjustment among form one students in Murang’a County, Kenya has become a concern as more and more students continue to find it difficult to fit in and cope with the school environment. This has posed serious problems among some students who develop a negative attitude and behavior towards the school, hindering them from comfortably engaging in learning and even dropping out. Minimal effort has been employed to investigate factors that contribute to students’ poor adjustment to the school environment. Therefore, the study aimed to find out whether students’ psychosocial support, social competence, and psychological well-being had any relationship with school adjustment among form one students in Murang’a County, Kenya. Gender was also investigated to establish whether there were any significant differences between boys and girls in school adjustment. The study incorporated two theoretical insights; Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development (1950) and the bio-ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner's, 1979). The study used correlational design to establish the relationship among psychosocial support, social competence, psychological well-being, and school adjustment. The population of this study included all form one students in the County and the target population was 6,043 form one students. Out of these, 362 students were randomly sampled from 12 out of the 51 secondary schools in the County. Murang’a County was purposively sampled. A stratified sampling technique was used to sample the 12 secondary schools. Four research tools were adapted and used to collect quantitative data; the Scale for Psychosocial Support (SP), the Social Competence-Teen Scale (SCTS), the Scale for Psychological Well-being (SPWB), and the School Adjustment-Child Scale (SACS). Piloting was done to ensure the validity and reliability of the research tools and consisted of 20 participants, drawn from a mixed public day school. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. The Statistical tests used included Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, multiple regression, chi-square, and t-test. The results revealed a strong positive and statistically significant correlation among psychosocial support, social competence, psychological well-being adjustment r (349) =.58, p ≤ .05; a positive and significant correlation between students’ psychosocial support and school adjustment, r (349) = .32, p ≤ .05. Results also revealed a moderate positive significance between social competence and school adjustment, r (349) = .39, p ≤ .05; psychological well-being and school adjustment, r (349) = .54, p ≤ .05. The independent t-test also revealed a statistically significant difference in psychosocial support, social, competence and psychological well-being between boys and girls. This implies that there is a significant difference in the level of adjustment between form one boys and girls. The results suggest that boys adjusted better than girls hence the need to ensure that girls are provided with the necessary support to enable them to adjust adequately in school. Regression analysis revealed that psychosocial support, social competence, and psychological well-being predicted school adjustment, and consequently, school adjustment predicted academic achievement. In conclusion, therefore, psychosocial support, social competence, and psychological well-being predicted school adjustment. The study recommended that teachers and all the stakeholders in the school should endeavour to enhance students’ psychosocial support,
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Psychology) in the School of Education of Kenyatta University March, 2024
Supervisors:
1. Cecilia Mwangi
2. Philomena Ndambuki