Socioeconomic Background and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Emotional Resilience among In-School Adolescents in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Abstract

Adolescence is a major directional transition and a stage of development that involves a multifaceted interaction of emotional, social and academic issues that have a tremendous impact on an individual development. Emotional resilience -resilience is the ability to deal with and withstand stress effectively- is a critical factor in the wellbeing and academic performance of students attending secondary schools. In the Nigerian setting, such issues are often worsened by the lack of supportive facilities and persistent socio-economic inequalities. In this regard, it is important to explain that resilience depends on the variables of the socio-economic background and self-efficacy in order to further enhance the developmental results of adolescents. The current research design was a descriptive survey study of correlational nature that determined the level of emotional resilience among secondary-school students in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Target population was represented by all the students in the secondary schools; a stratified random sample of 250 respondents was taken so that sufficient representation is achieved based on school typologies and gender lines. The structured questionnaire was created to collect information about emotional resilience, socio-economic background, and self-efficacy. The data was collected in schools in a normalised environment. The Statistical package of the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to do further analyses. Demographic characteristics were summarised using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation was used to test the relationship between variables at a significant level of p < 0.05. Findings showed that adolescents had an intermediate level of emotional resiliency, which implies that, even though a few of them can cope with stress, a significant number of them are at risk. Socio-economic background showed an affirmative relationship with emotional resilience showing that resources and favourable environments enable coping. Additionally, a positive correlation was found to be strong between resilience and self-efficacy, and this shows that students with confidence in their skills will be more willing to face emotional adversity and continue to fight in spite of it. The researcher finds out that situational and personal factors influence the emotional resilience of in-school adolescents in Abeokuta. The interventions or programmes meant to enhance resilience must include school based programmes, parental participation, and interventions that encourage self-efficacy and at the same time address the socio-economic differences.