Prevalence of conduct disorder among adolescents in a senior secondary school in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the prevalence of conduct disorder among  adolescents in a senior secondary school in Benin City. This was a survey study. The population was made up of 1,540 students in one of the mixed schools that was randomly selected from the senior secondary schools in Benin City, Edo State Nigeria. The target sample of 656 students was used. The instrument used for the study is a conduct disorder checklist which contains the different types of conduct disorder as identified by American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental  Disorders (DSM-IV). The checklist was validated by three lecturers in the department of educational Psychology. Internal consistency reliability was used for the study. The items were analysed using Cronbach alpha. The coefficient obtained were 0.92 for aggression to people, 0.93 for  destruction of property, 0.87 for stealing and 0.80 for serious violation of rules. The checklist was administered by the subject teachers who have had contact with the students’ for at least six months. Percentages, Frequency counts and ranking were used for analysis. Based on the findings from the two research questions raised to guide the study, it was concluded that conduct disorder is prevalent with 36% among the target sample of 656 students in the group used. The most prevalent conduct disorder among adolescents in the group used was serious violations of rules with 54.4%, followed by aggression to people 53.6% which ranked 2nd; destruction of property 11.7% ranked 3rd and stealing 9.6% ranked 4th. It is recommended that treatment intervention techniques be adopted as an effective strategy for reducing conduct disorder among adolescents in secondary schools. Students with conduct disorder should be motivated by the school authorities to visit the school counsellor’s office regularly.

Key words: Conduct disorder and types, Prevalence, Adolescents, Senior Secondary School.