Loss of parents, academic performance and psychosocial adjustment of grade five children in Zambia : a quasi-experimental study
type: CreativeWork
description: This was a comparative study based on 400 grade 5 children who had lost one or both parents against their 400 peers in the same grade with both parents alive. Data collection involved the children completing various tests for academic performance, the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II with the assistance of the research team.Also, their teacher(s) and parents/caregivers completed the checklists on each child. In other words, the data on behaviour problems involved three informants. Leading hypotheses of this study were that because loss of one or both parents is a painfully devastating experience, especially when it happens at a tender age as was the case for the children in this study, the children with one or both parents dead are likely to: 1.exhibit more behaviour problems than their peers with both parents alive as measured by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), which assesses social competence and behavioural problems. 2.score higher on dissociation than their peers with both parents alive as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), DES-11 assesses the nature and level of disruption in memory or consciousness as a consequence of traumatic experiences such as loss of a beloved one. 3. score lower on the selected school performance tests (in this case Grade 5 competence tests in math and English) than their peers with both parents alive. 4.display associations between behaviour problems, dissociation and school performance as these areas of functioning are supposed to reinforce one another. The conclusions were that: Gender differences in the development of problem behaviour were noted. Teachers reported significant gender differences in all types of problem behaviour. Contrary to expectation, teachers indicated more internalizing and externalizing, and total problems in girls than boys. However, available literature tends to associate more internalizing problems with girls than boys, and vice vers…
abstract: This was a comparative study based on 400 grade 5 children who had lost one or both parents against their 400 peers in the same grade with both parents alive. Data collection involved the children completing various tests for academic performance, the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II with the assistance of the research team.Also, their teacher(s) and parents/caregivers completed the checklists on each child. In other words, the data on behaviour problems involved three informants. Leading hypotheses of this study were that because loss of one or both parents is a painfully devastating experience, especially when it happens at a tender age as was the case for the children in this study, the children with one or both parents dead are likely to: 1.exhibit more behaviour problems than their peers with both parents alive as measured by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), which assesses social competence and behavioural problems. 2.score higher on dissociation than their peers with both parents alive as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), DES-11 assesses the nature and level of disruption in memory or consciousness as a consequence of traumatic experiences such as loss of a beloved one. 3. score lower on the selected school performance tests (in this case Grade 5 competence tests in math and English) than their peers with both parents alive. 4.display associations between behaviour problems, dissociation and school performance as these areas of functioning are supposed to reinforce one another. The conclusions were that: Gender differences in the development of problem behaviour were noted. Teachers reported significant gender differences in all types of problem behaviour. Contrary to expectation, teachers indicated more internalizing and externalizing, and total problems in girls than boys. However, available literature tends to associate more internalizing problems with girls than boys, and vice vers…
author: Kasonde-Ng'andu, Sophie
language: en
keywords: Education, Primary - Zambia, Parents - Study and teaching, Social psycology, Parents - Death - Psychological aspects
date published: 2012-10-04
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:05:59Z
provider: University of Zambia
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Zambia