Gender Difference in the Prevalence and Pattern of Conduct Disorder Among Adolescent Students of Senior Secondary Schools in Dala Education Zone, Kano State-Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated gender difference in the prevalence and pattern of conduct disorder among adolescent students of senior secondary schools in Dala Education Zone, Kano State-Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of conduct disorder among senior secondary school students in the study area and to determine gender difference in the rate and pattern of conduct disorder among senior secondary school students of the study area respectively. The study adopted cross-sectional survey design, 381 out of 57,238 students were selected as sample through multi-stage cluster sampling technique from the 42 senior secondary schools in Dala Education Zone, Kano state. The data collection instrument used in the study was Adolescent Conduct Disorder Scale (ACD-Scale) adapted from the American National Youth Survey Scale. The reliability of internal consistency of the scale was sought using Cronbach’s alpha formula with alpha value (α) of0.89. The findings of the study revealed that the most frequent conduct disorder among senior secondary school students of Dala education zone, Kano State-Nigeria are; fighting, destruction of school properties, telling lies, graffiti drawing, tearing examination report sheets and examination malpractice. The study also revealed that there is a significant gender difference in the rate and pattern of conduct disorder among senior secondary school students of Dala education zone, Kano State-Nigeria where male students are significantly higher than the female students in rate of conduct disorder in the study area. Based on the findings above, the study recommends that government should come up with the two early intervention strategies that have been tested by other developed countries such as Chicago Area Project in America and found them useful in minimizing conduct disorder among adolescents. The first one comprises interventions on parents who are at risk for neglecting their children and thereby stopping adverse consequences of such action on students