Relationship Between Parental Marital Status and Levels of Self-Esteem Among Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in Kenya: A Case of University of Kabianga

Kenyan universities have experienced a growing phenomenon of student’s unrest, drug abuse, deaths, relationship break ups, exam malpractice among others, which pose serious challenges in the growth and development of the students. Feelings of self-worth develop very early in childhood, thus parents and guardians play a great role in determining what the child thinks about him or herself. Self-esteem of children from either single or married parent families is important as it has a direct impact on the child’s behavior in school. This study investigated the influence of parental marital status on students’ self-esteem in universities. Causal-comparative research design guided the study. The target population included 840 fourth year students from the University of Kabianga. Proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling was utilized to identify a sample size of 271 male and female students. Data was collected by use of a questionnaire. The study established a statistically significant difference (t2.386= 115.788, p < 0.05) between parental marital status and the level of self-esteem among undergraduate students in University of Kabianga. Students from married parent families recorded higher level of self-esteem to students from single parent family. The study concludes that parental marital status has a positive relationship on undergraduate students’ self-esteem in universities. The study also recommends strategies to improve students’ levels of self-esteem. The students should seek and train for self-esteem based counseling even when they are not encountering serious problems. University student counselors to develop SE special counseling programs and activities on psychological and psychosocial issues Keywords: Self-Esteem, Parental Marital Status DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-33-12 Publication date: November 30 th 2022