AFFLUENT PARENTS’ BEHAVIOUR ON ADOLESCENTS’ ASSERTIVENESS IN KAREN ZONE, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The family constitutes the basic ecology where adolescents’ assertiveness is manifested. However, there is a darker side to some parents’ behaviours that belies these virtues. This study sought to investigate affluent Parents’ behaviour on adolescents’ assertiveness. The research questions were: What are the levels of assertiveness among adolescents in affluent families? What behaviours are exhibited by affluent parents? How do these behaviours influence assertiveness among adolescents? How can affluent parents’ best facilitate development towards adolescent assertiveness? Eric Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development was used and a Convergent parallel design. Quantitative applied cross-sectional while qualitative was phenomenological. The target population was 23263 with a sample size of 578 respondents consisting of 96 parents and 80 house helps purposefully sampled; 384 adolescents and 18 local officers randomly sampled. The study used Questionnaires for collecting data from both parents and adolescents, interview guide for local officers and house helps and a focus group discussion was done with 20 parents for in-depth data. Pilot testing was done to test face and content validity of the instruments. Reliability of the instruments was tested by computing a Cronbach’s alpha. Qualitative data was analyzed in narratives while quantitative data was analyzed using inferential statistics using SPSS version 22.0. Findings revealed that adolescents’ level of assertiveness was influenced by parental support, parental separation, divorce, absence, and poor parent-adolescent relationships. Strategies suggested included creating time for boding, sharing meals, being emotionally present, parental support, and love by parents to adolescents. The study recommended the need for strengthening policies on guidance and counseling services for parents and adolescents’ for enhancement of assertiveness.