Abstract:
Children from single parent families tend to be viewed as having low self esteem and challenges associated withit despite the fact that children from duo parent background are not immune to the same challenge. This study therefore aimed at establishing whether the type of single parenthood influences a student’s self esteem from selected schools in Nakuru Municipality, Kenya. It adopted the causal comparative research design. A total of 4257 Form 3 and Form 4 students comprised the population of the study. The study was carried out in 18 public secondary schools within Nakuru Municipality, Kenya. A sample size of 180 students, from single parent families took part in the study. Stratified and Purposive sampling techniques were used to obtain the sample. Data was collected by use of a questionnaire that included a self esteem test. Analysis of data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics including ANOVA. The level of significance was set at ∝ = 0.05. The analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 17. Findings of the study indicated that there is no statistically significant relationship between the type of single parenthood and the levels of students' self-esteem (p > 0.05). This then implies that effect on the self esteem of students in a single parenthood setup does not depend on the cause of the absent parent The study recommended that since self-esteem is a concern for children from single parents,teachers, counselors, adults and other educational stakeholders should address the issue from a more holistic position and seek to come up with unique strategies to boost self esteem of each student’s situation.
Keywords - Influence ,Self-esteem, single parenthood ,, duo parent,level of significce
