Child Rearing Patterns as Predictors of In-School Adolescents’ Maladaptive Behaviours in Very Low-Income Rural Communities in Nigeria

Background/Objective: The debate about the interaction between the individual student and learning environment (home) is still ongoing and inconclusive. Parents are modelled and they establish basic patterns at home which may never stop as teens develop. This study investigated child-rearing patterns as predictors of in-school adolescents’ maladaptive behaviours in very low-income rural communities in Nigeria. Method: The study was a cross-sectional correlational survey. Two hundred and sixty-one parents and teachers in Enugu and Ebonyi States of Nigeria participated in the study. Teachers identified the students with Conners' Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales (CBRS). Parents whose children were identified answered the Child Rearing Pattern Questionnaire (CRPQ). The validity of the instruments was ascertained by three experts. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to address the research questions, while the null hypotheses were analyzed using regression at an alpha level of significance of 0.05. Results: Results revealed in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities in Nigeria exhibit maladaptive behaviours. It was found that 4.7% of in-school adolescents’ maladaptive behaviours can be attributed to the authoritarian child-rearing pattern while 12% of maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents can be attributed to the authoritative child rearing pattern. Authoritative and authoritarian child-rearing patterns did not significantly predict the maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the need for researchers to check out whether and how several other factors in the school that may contribute significantly to in-school adolescents’ maladaptive behaviours such as peer influence, disciplinary measures, school environment and even curriculum and pedagogy.


Overview of Very Low-Income Rural Communities in Nigeria
Rural communities in Nigeria are experiencing poverty and this seems to be on the increase with devastating effects on the citizens (Anger, 2010). The Vision 2010 Committee Report revealed that 80% of Nigerians still live below the poverty level with no access to safe drinking water, adequate nutrition, or even primary health care. This unsatisfactory condition has been noticed through visits and initial interactions and interviews by members of this research team in Nigeria. This situation is not easy for parents and their children. The parents mainly engage in agricultural cultivations especially rice and sometimes the headship of the households are under the females. All these have an effect on the in-school adolescents they are rearing. Of more concern is that the number of poor people is on the increase in Nigeria. In an appraisal of poverty reduction strategies in Nigeria, Ogwumike (2002) found that 27% was recorded in 1980, while in 1985, it was 46%. There was a decline in 1992 when it was 42%. But, in 1996, it skyrocketed to 67%. Since then, the situation has not changed from the look of things with lower educational level appearing to be linked to the higher rate of poverty.
In Nigeria, there are three major communities. They are the completely modernized communities-these are located in the centre of urban areas; those that combine the characteristics of traditionalism and modernity situated in border areas between urban areas and rural areas and those situated in predominantly rural areas. The latter is largely traditional in outlook and may not enjoy the luxuries of modernity. Very low-income rural communities may apply to the lower income residential districts in rural areas. The schools in those areas are often neglected due mainly to location and distance from urban centres especially the centre of government. Most of the inhabitants are farmers and petty traders. Majority of the dwellers are very poor by income status and are poorly educated. Their shelter may be inadequate, in addition to poor health conditions. The adolescents in such areas may be poorly motivated to learn, may take to apathy and the tendency is to start exhibiting maladaptive behaviours.
Statistics have shown that over 70% of the Nigerian population is classified as poor with 35% living in abject poverty (Kama, 2015). The report from the study (Kama, 2015) noted that it is especially severe in rural areas where social services and infrastructure are limited and sometimes non-existent. Majority of rural dwellers are poor and depend on agriculture and petty trading for food and income. Up to 90% of the country's food is produced by them. Rural poverty tends to be evenly distributed across the country. Rural infrastructure as earlier noted in Nigeria has long been neglected while investments in health, education and water supply have largely been focused on the cities. For this, they have extremely limited access to services such as schools. Limited education tends to perpetuate the poverty cycle. Animashaun (2005) reported a high rise of in-school maladaptive behaviours among rural communities in the Ibadan area. Bolu-Steve and Sanusi (2013) noted that in Nigeria where the study was carried out, the family background has an influence on the academic background of the adolescents. Other researchers have also stated that the families and the area adolescents reside may positively or negatively lead to maladaptive behaviours (Teasdale and Silver, 2009). Such behaviours are harmful to the student, other students, parents, siblings, school system, and society at large. The students concerned may drop out of school, use drugs, may not be employed or enter the wrong career and become social misfits. They have less educational competence, limited educational objectives, have more delinquent friends, maintain poor interpersonal relationships and are often rejected by peers (Nwokolo, 2003). Sadly, the school system seems not to be equipped or prepared to effectively intervene or prevent these behaviours. Conventional means of handling the situation such as suspension, expulsion or corporal punishment, ostracism and segregation (Worthington & Gargiulo, 2003;Obiyo, 2017) have become very inadequate. How a child is raised can go a long way to explain his behavioural pattern, later in life. This is what necessitated this study. Special interest was on in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities in Nigeria.

In-School Adolescent Maladaptive Behaviours
Earlier, Freud noted that adolescents left at the care of their mothers have the tendency to be rude, arrogant and proud with delinquency problems. Okeke (2001) and Aboh, Nwankwo, Agu and Chinwendu (2014) found that broken and parental projections can enhance adolescent maladaptive behaviours. Naturally, adolescents undergo a period of changes physically and emotionally. The systematic and rapid changes make them self-conscious, sensitive and worried about their body changes. They make unhealthy comparisons about themselves with their peers emotionally, physically and otherwise. These may occur in unsmooth and irregular circumstances. They may go through awkward stages. For example, girls may be anxious if they are not ready for the beginning of their menstrual periods, while boys may worry if they do not know about nocturnal emissions (Lahey, 2003). According to the author, these may predispose them to maladaptive behaviours. Maladaptive behaviours are acts of indiscipline among students who work against the aims and objectives of any educational system (Bonaffice, 2003). They include lateness to school, absenteeism, fighting, intimidation, extortion of money from fellow students or parents, stealing, bullying, examination malpractice, violent protests, riots, cybercrime, disobedience to school authority, flouting of rules, certificate forgery and alcoholism among many others (Eke, 2002;Okorodudu, 2010).
The problem of in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours is considered the most disturbing and heart-aching difficulties confronting Nigerian society. It is reaching epidemic proportion and retarding current development efforts (Denga, 2001). This category of students tends to have negative employment outcomes, difficulties with substance abuse and high need for mental health services (Walker, 2004;Bullies &Yovanoff 2006). There is a growing trend of killing and maiming fellow students among rival cultists in schools. There is a threat to the life of examination invigilators by students during internal and external examinations (Awam, 2004). All these threaten order in the whole system and pose danger to development. In 2003, the Edo State police command in Benin City Nigeria, according to Onyemuze (2008), reported that 1, 245 youths between ages 17-22 years were arrested for armed robbery related offences; 3,415 were arrested for cultism while 885 young girls were arrested for loitering and soliciting for sex customers. Animashaun (2005) also in a study observed that Nigeria suffers a lot from crime and violence. Nwankwo, Nwoke, Chukwuocha, Obanny, Nwoga, Iwuagwu and Okereke (2010) in their study on the prevalence and sectional survey of adolescents in secondary schools in Owerri municipal, South East Nigeria and its environs found that cultism was 69%, smoking 13.3%, alcoholism 3.0%, drug abuse 2.6%. In a study by Adejumo (2011), on the impact of family type on the involvement of adolescents in premarital sex, it was found that parental involvement is paramount in adolescents' premarital sexual behaviours.
During adolescence, individuals tend to separate from their parents to establish their own identity. This may occur when they have problems with their parents and other family members. In some families, the relationship may lead to conflict as parents try to be in charge. As the adolescent pulls away, to search for his identity, the friends and other features in the immediate social environment become more important to them. The peer group may provide a better alternative for them to meet their needs. This makes child-rearing pattern vital and a relevant predictor to equip the adolescent properly to be able to perform the expected adult roles in the family and society. Such may be lacking when the adolescent finds himself in a poor rural community. The school may not be well equipped as those in major cities. Due to poor roads, teachers may reject appointments and transfers to such schools, thus widening the already existing lack the adolescent may be getting from parents in such communities. Child-rearing patterns adopted may be more for survival than actual training.

Child-Rearing Patterns
From their classification, experts (Baumrind, 1991;Chan and Koo, 2008) noted that authoritarian/democraticparents are those who are attentive and forgiving. They teach their adolescents to behave properly and have a set of rules that if the child refuses to follow is punished. Compliance also meant a reward. Authoritarian parents employ strict parenting style. Authoritative child-rearing parents tend to understand their children's feelings and teach them how to regulate them. They encourage them to be independent but still place limits and control on their actions. They explain the reasons for any punishment they give to their children (Tim, 2007). The types of relationships adolescents form with their peers have been consistently linked with their parents' child-rearing patterns (Kama, 2015).
Authoritative child rearing has to do with how parents understand their children which involves how they feel. They teach them to regulate such feelings. They help their children identify appropriate outlets to be able to solve their problems. They encourage their children to be independent but still place control and limitations over their actions. According to Chan and Koo, the children are allowed to extensively explore. This gives them opportunities to decide wisely and reason properly. Due to all these, the children grow into independent and self-reliant adults. Furthermore, the parents set clear standards for their children and allow them to develop a reasonable sense of autonomy. They are cautious about their children's needs and concerns. They forgive their children when necessary. These enable them to grow into well behaved and confident adolescents. Baumrind noted that in-school adolescents of authoritative parents have more positive relationships with their peer groups. The support these adolescents get from making their own decisions, provide them with the experience they need to engage in thoughtful and responsible behaviours during an interpersonal relationship with peers and other people. According to Hart, Newell and Olsen (2003), the behavioural controls exercised by their parents promote their adolescent abilities. This child-rearing pattern is related to in-school adolescent behaviours that show empathy and altruism (Auriola, Stattn, & Nurmi, 2000). For authoritarian/ strict child-rearing pattern, parents make rules and expect their children to conform and comply with them. There is little or no dialogue between parents and children. The parents are too demanding and not responsive to their children's feelings. The parents tend to demand obedience without orientation (Ajuzie, 2005). For this, the adolescent may have few competencies. Consequently, he may break down, rebel against parents and may even run away from home. He may end up with other adolescents who exhibit maladaptive behaviours (Odebunni, 2007). Studies have shown that adolescents from the authoritarian/strict child-rearing pattern are less socially adept (Auriola et al., 2000). They are more at risk for behaviour problems. Their social problems are attributed to their parents being strict and often, they use harsh disciplinary measures. They rely on physical punishments when disciplining their children. The findings from Lansford, Dodge, Malone, Bacchini, Zelli, Chaudhary, Manke, Chang, Oburu, Palmareus, Pastorelli, Bombi, Tapanya, Deater-Deckard and Quinn (2005) indicated that physical discipline has a negative impact on the children's development. In the interviews of parents of school-age children in China, India, Korea, the Fillipines and Thailand, the authors found that greater use of physical punishment has been associated with anxiety and aggression in adolescents.
The child-rearing pattern chosen by a family can be rooted in the group the person belongs to. It may also be linked to the area of residence. Differences such as discipline, expectations regarding the acceptance of responsibilities and transmission of values vary among families. Chinese parents in China and diaspora start early to indoctrinate their children about the importance of educational success. Many Asian and African parents include grandparents in their child-rearing patterns. Hassidic Jews insulate their children from external influences to isolate them from factors that may corrupt them. The children were encouraged to speak Yiddish at home and even in schools. Some families even ban their children from having access to the internet, radio and television (Rappeport, 2013).
The chances of turning into a victim of one maladaptive behaviour or another are more likely to grow out of the family childrearing patterns. This is because it forms the basis upon which other cultural values are built as a microcosm of the society (Osgood & Amy, 2004). On the demographic causes of crime in South-Eastern Nigeria, Anyanwu and Obiyo (2011) found that drug use, poverty, frustration as a result of dropping out of school among others are the root causes. From the report cited above by Rural Poverty in Nigeria, one can deduce that poverty and maladaptive behaviours are closely interconnected. The parents have limited access to schooling and training which affect their income and consequently, child rearing patterns. From the study, it was found that women and households headed by women are frequently the most chronically poor within the rural communities and tend to have unruly or even violent in-school adolescents who may become such in a bid to survive and reject adult influence which is part of adolescent growing up. Onyechi and Okere, (2007) stated that behavioural problems of most adolescents are rooted in the home. This may be due to the fact that a parent is a model to the children and the child-rearing pattern adopted by any family goes a long way to shape the behaviours of adolescents. A warm relationship creates a healthy environment for the development of the adolescent who requires parental warmth, love, careful attention to adequately adjust and adapt to the larger society.
In another study, Okorodudu (2010) researched the influence of parenting styles on adolescents' delinquency in Delta State, Nigeria. The study was guided by six research questions and six hypotheses. 404 adolescents were randomly selected for the study. From the study, it was found that the various parenting styles affected the students differently.
In a related study, Anyanwu and Obiyo (2012) did research on a survey of the home environment on the academic performance of children with an emotional behavioural disorder. It was guided by six research questions. The design of the study was a descriptive survey. 150 pupils were randomly selected for the study. The area of study was Owerri municipal, Imo State. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics-mean and standard deviation. Among other things, the findings of the study show that the authoritative parenting style is the most prevalent in the homes of the children. Kama (2015) did a study on family factors as determinants of deviant behaviours among primary school pupils in Awgu education zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The result of the study revealed that primary school pupils exhibited these deviant behaviours-examination malpractices, not devoted to studies, bullying weaker pupils among others.
This study was anchored on the social learning theory by Bandura (1977). The theory stipulates that learning is a product of the environment. By implication, the interaction between the individual student and learning environment (home) determine to a large extent the behaviours of the student. The theorist explained that successful socialization results from students modelling adult behaviours. In other words, adolescents can learn maladaptive behaviours as they learn soccer games. They tend to model parents (Okoye, 2007). In turn, parents establish basic patterns at home which may never stop as the youth develops (Kalgo, 2001). Based on the theory, the behaviours of an adolescent reflects the child-rearing pattern he grew up with. Deficiency in any of the patterns can lead to maladaptive behaviours, thereby making the adolescent a special education case.
People from very low-income rural communities in Nigeria are more concerned with survival in their locality (Ogwumike, 2002). Their source of livelihood is agriculture and petty trading. Sometimes the harsh conditions lead to broken homes where the adolescents are left to be cared for by their mothers. Okeke (2001) noted that the effect of the conditions mentioned is maladaptive behaviours. From the Vision 2010 Committee Report, poverty in Nigeria rural communities is real and needs to be addressed. From empirical studies reviewed, some factors such as parenting styles were identified as leading to deviant behaviours. None of the researches reviewed looked at in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours from very low-income rural communities. There is no known research to the authors' knowledge that has shown the predictive nature between child-rearing patterns adopted by very low-income rural communities in Nigeria and maladaptive behaviours exhibited by in school adolescents. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to examine the predictive nature between child-rearing patterns adopted by very low-income rural communities and maladaptive behaviours exhibited by in school adolescents in south-east Nigeria. To guide the study, we hypothesized that authoritarian and authoritative child rearing patterns gjhs.ccsenet.org Global Journal of Health Science Vol. 11, No.8;2019 do not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities.

Ethical Consideration
Approval for conducting this research was gotten from the Faculty of Education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Official permission was granted by the school principals. Parents granted their willingness before they participated. Their verbal consent was obtained. Thus, the researchers complied with the ethical principles of psychological research with human subjects (American Psychological Association, 2010).

Participants
A total of 261 participants were used for the study. They were 169 teachers and 92 parents. They were limited to public secondary schools in Uzo-uwani local government area, Enugu State and Onueke local government area in Ebonyi State, both in South East of Nigeria. The content covered child-rearing patterns used which were authoritarian and authoritative. The study was delimited to parents and teachers of in-school adolescents in the areas of study. Teachers used a standardized rating scale to identify the students with maladaptive behaviours, while the parents identified the child-rearing patterns they used on the students identified by the teachers that may have led to their maladaptive behaviours. The sample for the study is 261. It was made up of 169 teachers and ninety-two parents. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to get the sample. The teachers were randomly sampled from the schools. In the first stage, a simple random sampling technique was used to get two states from the five states of the South East geopolitical zones of Nigeria. It was also used to draw out two education zones and two local government areas from the two states. Two rural communities were then randomly sampled from the local government areas of the study. Two secondary schools were randomly selected each from the communities. Eighty-four teachers were randomly selected from two schools in Uzo-uwani local government area and eighty-five teachers from two schools in Onueke local government area. Likewise, forty-six students were identified by teachers from two schools from Uzo-uwani local government area and forty-six students were identified by teachers from Onueke local government area as having maladaptive behaviours with the adapted standardized rating scale. The parents were parents of the identified students. The participants were males and females, randomly chosen.

Design
The researchers adopted a correlation survey research design. It compared the relationship between authoritarian and authoritative child rearing patterns and in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours. This design is suitable because it helped to find out the magnitude and direction of the relationship between an independent variable and dependent variable. According to Nworgu (2006) and Nwagu (2005), it will help to find out how the status of one variable can be predicted from the known status of another variable.

Measures
Instruments for data collection were rating scale and questionnaire. An adapted standardized Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales (CCBRS) (Conners, 2015) for ages 6-18 was used by teachers in the local government areas to identify in-school adolescents with maladaptive behaviours. It was a four-point rating scale of Very Often (VO = 4 points), Often (O = 3 points); Rarely (R = 2 points); Never (N = 1 point). The items were 45 in number. The questionnaire titled Child Rearing Pattern Questionnaire (CRPQ) was a four-point rating scale of Very Great Extent (VGE -4 points); Great Extent (GE -3 points); Little Extent (LE -2points); Very Little Extent (VLE-1 point). It was developed by the researchers through review of literature and consultations with experts in test development in science education. CRPQ is made up of two sections. Section A contains demographic information of the respondents while section B contains 33 items of four clusters. The questionnaire was given to the parents of the identified students. It was used to find out the relationship between their children's maladaptive behaviours and their child-rearing patterns.
The questionnaire and rating scale were validated by three experts in Special Education, Sociology of Education and Measurement and Evaluation, all from the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. They scrutinized the instruments in terms of clarity of item statement and purpose of the study. Their corrections helped in modifying the instruments. A trial testing of the instruments was done using forty teachers for the adapted rating scale and thirty parents for the CRPQ from a community school in Obollo Eke, outside the study areas. Data generated were analyzed using the Cronbach alpha method to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Reliability estimates for adapted Conners' Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales was .95, while the Child Rearing Pattern Questionnaire was .85.

Procedure
The rating scale was administered to the teachers by the researchers on the spot. The teachers identified the students with a rating scale. The questionnaire was given to the parents of the identified students. The research assistants used direct questioning from items in the questionnaire to elicit information from parents on the child-rearing pattern they were using for their children. They were given an explanation of the item questions and the options. Their options were ticked for them by the research assistants because of their level of education. The research questions addressed the major purpose of the study. Research question one was answered with mean and standard deviation. The other research questions were answered using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, while the hypotheses were tested using multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance. Values ranging from 0.00-0.20 was considered a very low extent. Values from 0.21-0.40 were considered low extent. Values from 0.41-0.60 were considered as high extent, while values from 0.61 and above were considered as very high extent for research questions 2-5. The benchmark for research question one was 2.50.

Results
The results of the data collected were analyzed in line with the research questions and hypotheses that guided the study.

Research Question 1:
What are maladaptive behaviours exhibited by in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities? Data from Table 1 shows the maladaptive behaviours exhibited by in school adolescents in very low-income rural communities in the study areas. All the values showed that in-school adolescents exhibit maladaptive behaviour. From this teachers were able to identify ninety-two students from the study area. This was made up of forty-six students respectively from the study area. Parents of these students were the other participants.

Research Question 1:
To what extent does authoritarian child-rearing pattern predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities? Data presented in Table 2 shows the extent authoritarian child-rearing pattern predicts maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. The analysis above shows that the correlation (R) between the predictor variable (authoritarian child-rearing pattern) and the criterion variable

Research Question 2:
To what extent does authoritative child rearing pattern predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities? Data presented in Table 3 shows the extent authoritative child rearing pattern predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. The analysis above shows that the correlation (r) between the predictor variable (authoritative child rearing pattern) and the criterion variable (maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities) is 0.120. This implies that 12% of maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents can be attributed to the authoritative child-rearing pattern. H0 1 : Authoritative child rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities. The result from Table 4 shows ANOVA result of the significant difference in the mean scores of respondents on the extent authoritative child rearing pattern predicts maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents' in very low-income rural communities. The result shows the F-ratio of 1.312 with an associated probability value of .255. This probability value was compared with 0.05 and it was found not significant because .255 was greater than 0.05. The null hypothesis of no significance was therefore accepted and inference drawn is that authoritative child-rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. H0 2 : Authoritarian child rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities.  Table 5 shows the ANOVA result of the significant difference in the mean scores of respondents on the extent authoritarian child-rearing pattern predict in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours. The result from the table shows the F -ratio of .197 with an associated probability value of .659. The probability value of .659 was compared with 0.05 and it was found not significant because .659 was greater than 0.05. The null hypothesis of no significance was therefore accepted. This implies that the authoritarian child-rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities.

Discussion
Our finding showed that maladaptive behaviours were exhibited by in school adolescents in very low-income rural communities in the area of study. This is in line with the findings of Teasdale and Silver (2009) and Kama (2015). They noted that the families and the area they reside may positively or negatively lead to adolescent maladaptive behaviours. It is also supported by the findings of Nwankwo et al. (2010). These go to show that in-school adolescents have the tendency to exhibit maladaptive behaviours as a result of their areas of residence -very low-income rural communities. Also, the findings of this study lend credence to the findings of Animashaun (2005). The author reported a high rise of in-school maladaptive behaviours among rural communities in the Ibadan area. The findings of Bolu-Steve and Sanusi (2013) and Anyanwu and Obiyo (2012) and Adejumo (2011) in their separate studies were supported by the findings of the present study. The reason may be attributed to the fact that people from very low-income rural communities in Nigeria are more concerned with survival in their locality according to Ogwumike, (2002). From the report by Rural Poverty in Nigeria cited by Kama (2015), and the findings of this study, one can deduce that very low-income earning and maladaptive behaviours are closely interconnected.
Results also showed the extent authoritarian child-rearing pattern predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. The study showed that authoritarian child-rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities in the study area. This is a departure from the findings of Odebunni (2007), Auriola et al. (2000) and Lansford et al (2005) and Okorodudu (2010). The reason could be that the adolescents in these rural areas may not really bother with the harsh treatment meted to them by their parents. They are already toughened by the harsh environment they found themselves.
Results further showed the extent authoritative child rearing pattern predict maladaptive behaviours among in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. Findings from the study showed that authoritative child rearing pattern does not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of school adolescents in very low-income rural communities. This is also a departure of the findings of Baumrind (1991), Hart et al. (2003), Auriola et al. (2002) and Okorodudu (2010). The reason could be on the nature of authoritative child rearing pattern. The parents teach their children to regulate such feelings. They help them identify appropriate outlets to be able to solve their problems. They encourage their children to be independent but still place control and limitations over their actions. All these may not make one exhibit maladaptive behaviours.
Generally, one can infer from the findings that the child-rearing patterns adopted by the parents did not significantly affect maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents in very low-income rural communities in Nigeria. The reasons could be that the adolescents by their very nature may be asserting themselves instead of actually succumbing to the training at home (Lahey, 2003). Moreover, their peers and the internet are other factors that may reduce the effect of parental training in their lives. The findings of this study have important educational implications. The findings will have an effect on stakeholders in the education of school adolescents, especially those in very low-income rural communities. For the teachers, they will be properly informed that adolescents' behaviour is not only a product of the family. They need to check out the effect of peer pressure, the internet among others. The parents would be more equipped by knowing that as they train their children, they will also remember extraneous factors such as the school. The school would also involve the parents may be through the parents' forum to collaborate with training the students. The school should map out enriching programs that would gainfully help educate the students and at the same time be utilized for leisure.

Limitations
This study has some limitations. We acknowledge that the size of the sample was somewhat small. It only included parents and teachers from southeastern states of Nigeria. We recommend that students be involved in subsequent studies. Further study should investigate the relationship between the responses of students with their parents. It can also determine the effect of academic achievement of the students.

Conclusion
School adolescents exhibit maladaptive behaviours in very low-income rural communities. Authoritarian child rearing pattern did not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. Authoritative child rearing pattern did not significantly predict maladaptive behaviours of in-school adolescents from very low-income rural communities. The findings of this study highlight the need for researchers to check out whether and how several other factors in the school that may contribute significantly to in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours such as peer influence, disciplinary measures, school environment and even curriculum and pedagogy. It equally highlights the need for the schools to map out enriching programs that would gainfully help educate the students on the essence of positive student-home interaction. Such programs would at the same time be utilized for promoting leisure and the importance of school-home collaboration in adolescent upbringing to stem the tide of in-school adolescents' maladaptive behaviours.

Funding
This research was funded with a grant from Tertiary Education Trust Fund in Nigeria.