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Background: There is a paucity of literature on the psychological burden on parental caregivers of children with surgical conditions. Knowledge of the peculiar psychological challenges faced by the parents or caregivers could help to advocate for the incorporation of a psychologist or psychiatrist as part of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study over 6 months on caregivers of pediatric surgical patients at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS) and the General Health Questionnaire – 28 (GHQ-28) were used to obtain data on the burden of care and psychiatric morbidity. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS (version 23). A ZCBS score ≥21 and a GHQ-28 value above 4 were considered significant. Results: A total of 120 caregivers were recruited for the study. The mean GHQ score was 6.3 (standard deviation [SD] ±5.9), whereas the mean ZCBS was 24.96 (SD ± 14.67). Sixty (50.0%) caregivers had a GHQ score over 4 and 71 (59.2%) had a ZCBS score ≥21. Conclusions: The care of children undergoing surgical procedures is associated with a significant burden and psychological distress among first-degree family caregivers. There is a need for further studies to know the pattern of their psychologically ill health as this could impede their quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indiscipline in secondary school has persisted over the years, taking a new and frightening tone that seems like a bone in the throat. This study investigated the influence of parental involvement in terms of interference with child punishment and confronting teachers openly on school discipline of secondary school students. Two research questions were raised to guide the study. The literature review was done according to the variables under study. The survey design was adopted for the study. The population consists of all parents of Public Secondary Schools. Ninety three (93) parents purposively selected from the Parents Teachers Association of the 7 Public Secondary Schools in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State constituted the sample for the study. A Four (4) point Likert questionnaire titled "Parental Involvement and School Indiscipline Questionnaire"(PIASDQ) was the instrument used for data collection. The validity of the instrument was determined by four (4) experts in Educational Psychology and Measurement and Evaluation units respectively, all from the Department of Educational Foundations. While Crunbach Alpha reliability was used to determine the reliability at .73 level of significance. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that parents should be encouraged to correct their children's wrongdoings at home as the home is the first school, modalities for effective disciplinary measures should be discussed strongly in PTA meetings to get the views of parents, and also check brutality on the part of the teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While adolescents in many nations across the world are getting exposed to various forms of cyberbullying and online harms, little attention has been devoted to examining the implications of gender and peer influence in secondary school adolescents' involvement in cyberbullying in Nigeria. Addressing this void in the literature, the present study investigated the internet use pattern and peer victimisation among 992 secondary school adolescents in the fourth to sixth (senior) grades (age ranging from 15 to 17 years; males = 55.9 %). The data were collected using a questionnaire with a very high alpha coefficient of α = .92 and analysed using SPSS (v. 22). The findings revealed an alarmingly high incidence level (76 %) and that more male adolescents were involved in cyber victimisation and more female adolescents in cyber predation, a quite surprising phenomenon as far as the Nigerian school context is concerned. The results of the study highlight the importance of gender difference, peer influence and the degree of internet use as potential risk factors of cyberbullying among Nigerian in-school adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed at contributing to the promotion of positive communication between parents and children in order to help the children establish individual values and make sexually healthy decisions. Materials and method: Ninety six out of 300 in-school adolescents previously interviewed were selected for follow-up interview with their respective parents/guardians using a simple random sampling technique. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered on the parents/guardians after obtaining their informed consents. Results: Of the 93 respondents that freely discuss with their children, the frequencies were: regularly (68.8%); occasionally (28.0%); and (3.2%) could not recall. More of those that discussed about sexuality issues were younger with a mean age of 45.5 years compared to 48.3 years for those who did not (x2 = 40.91, df = 50, p < 0.05). Similarly, younger respondents perceived sexuality education more important than older respondents (x2 = 61.81, df = 75, p < 0.05). Very few discussed HIV/AIDS with their male children while none had such discussion with their female children. About one-quarter of the parents did not believe in children knowing about contraceptives, stating that such exposure is unnecessary because it will initiate the children into early sexual activities. This communication gap was more evident when about one-third of the respondents insisted they will not counsel their children about contraceptives. Conclusions: Parents should be assisted in developing specific knowledge and skills to support their adolescents' sexual decision making. Intervention programs should target particularly the older ones, who are usually not too comfortable in discussing issues relating to sexuality with their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]