Family Dysfunctionality and the Psychological Well-being of Primary School Pupils: A Case Study of St. Francis of Assisi Primary School Kikuyu Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

This case-study assessed family dysfunctionality and its effect on the psychological well-being of pupils of St. Francis of Assisi Primary School in Kiambu County, Kenya. The research objectives of this study were: to examine the prevalence of family dysfunctionality among pupils, to evaluate the level of psychological well-being among pupils, to assess the relationship between family dysfunctionality and psychological well-being among the pupils. This study was grounded on Adlerian Theory, developed by Alfred Adler in 1912. According to this theory, important goals and life style are formed during childhood. Mixed methods research approach using the embedded mixed methods design was used for the study. In this design both quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously. In this study, qualitative data was secondary to quantitative data. Target population was a total of 82 pupils. Yamane Formula (1967) was adopted to determine the sample size of 68 pupils for quantitative research procedures. The sample size was 68 participants. The data collection instruments used were self-administered questionnaires, standardized measurement scales and Group Focus for qualitative data. Ten pupils were chosen using the non-probability purposive sampling for qualitative research procedures. The researcher used face to face focus group interviewing, using interview schedules. The researcher used descriptive analysis to analyze quantitative data which was presented using tables, frequencies and percentages as well as bar charts. The Pearson Chi Square Tests, Fisher’s Exact Test Statistics and the correlation coefficient of Karl Pearson were also used. For qualitative data analysis, the researcher used content analysis of themes related to family dysfunctionality. The findings from this study show that family dysfunctionality was uncommon among pupils of St Francis of Assisi Primary School. It was also revealed that majority (80%) indicated moderate to high level of family functionality. Majority (85%) of the pupils showed high level of psychological well-being. The study recommends that the psychological well-being of pupils could be enhanced by many other internal and external factors such as school belongingness and adoption of Adlerian Goal-Oriented Theory which advocates for striving for significance through meaningful goals as a source of motivation over the outcome of their lives.