Abstract:
Parental conflict is a prevalent problem that threatens the social adjustment of adolescence children both in
developed and developing nations. Despite increasing media report of parental conflicts there is paucity of information on
the relationship of parental conflict and social adjustment of adolescence especially in Kenya. This study sought to
establish the relationship between parental conflict and social adjustment of adolescence children in Murang’a County.
The study was guided by interpersonal theories. This study employed a descriptive survey design with a quantitative
approach. The study target population was 108,774 secondary school students in Murang’a County. Simple random
sampling method was applied to draw a sample size of 400 students. Standardized instruments were used to collect data
from the students. The Social Adjustment Scale developed by Reda-Norton was used to measure social adjustment among
the students while frequency of parental conflict and type of parental conflict was assed using Children’s Perception of
Inter-parental Conflict Scale (CPIC). Data collected was coded and processed using the Statistical Package of Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Quantitative data was analyzed to generate descriptive statistics including frequencies,
percentages and means. T-test statistics was conducted to establish gender differences in social adjustments of
adolescents. The results of the analysis revealed that students’ social adjustment mean scores showed that there was
gender difference on delinquent behaviours (t= -3.384, df = 319, P< 0.05) among the adolescents. The findings of the analysis
showed that male adolescents were more likely to show delinquent behaviours compared to female adolescents. However,
no difference was found in respect to pro-social and interpersonal offensive behaviours across gender. The study
therefore recommends that; schools should strengthen counseling department to help students with social adjustment challenges and
teachers and counseling personnel should be appropriately sensitized to identify internalizing or externalizing symptoms
and establish the underlying problem with an intention of offering appropriate intervention.
Keywords: Parental Conflict, Social Adjustment, Adolescence, Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviour