DEMOGRAPHIC PREDICTORS OF PARENTAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA. A RESEARCH TOPIC ON HEALTH AND KINETICS
Abstract
Literature has revealed that there is child abuse and neglect in Nigeria including Bauchi State. The study therefore examined Demographic Predictors of Parental Child Abuse and Neglect and Preventive Measures in Bauchi State, Nigeria. To achieve these purpose seventeen research objectives were posed with seventeen corresponding research questions and seven null hypotheses were postulated and tested at
.05 level of significance. The correlation research design was utilized for this study. The population for the study consisted of all secondary school students in Bauchi State (550,421) and 20 experts from the field of health education, measurement and evaluation and psychologists from the departments of psychology, measurement and evaluation and Physical and Health Education of the Universities of Nigeria, Nsukka. A sample size of 1549 secondary school students was drawn from the population using a multi-stage sampling procedure with appropriate technique was used. All the 20 experts were used for the study. Three types of instruments were used for this study. First, the Demographic Predictors of Child Abuse and Neglect Questionnaire (DePCANQ), secondly, Child Abuse and Neglect Focus Group Discussion (CANFGD) Guide and thirdly, Child Abuse and Neglect Preventive Measures Questionnaire (CANPMQ). Two sets of the instruments DePCANQ and CANPMQ were subjected to validation by five experts from the Department of Health and Physical Education, Psychology, and Measurement and Evaluation University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The cronbach Alpha method of reliability index of DeCANQ was .88 and CANPMQ reliability index was .86. Research questions 1 and 2 were answered using frequencies and percentages while research question 17 was answered using mean while research questions 3-16 were answered using multiple-regression analysis. The ANOVA statistic was used to test hypotheses 1-7 at .05 level of significance. The findings reveals that Parents physically abused their children by always pushing (11. 2%), kicking (8.7%); sometimes beating (38.4%), slapping (30.9%). Parents sexually abuse their children by always fondling (7.1%), robbing breast against their body (5.3%). Parents emotionally abuse their children by always showing lack of acceptance (40.9%), lack of love (11.1%). Parents physically neglected their children by always not providing good shelter (71.8%), enough food (68.6%); sometimes not giving shoes (25.2%), clothes (23.3%).
