School Performance of Children From Monogamous and Polygamous Families in Nigeria

Abstract

Scholastic success of Nigerian children coming from polygamous (n = 50) and monogamous families (n=156) was compared. No differences between two groups were observed across background variables of demographics, parental education and occupation, or family support

Psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Among the 23 studies, 17 are about women [ 4 , 9 , 29 – 43 ], while six other studies focus on the children [ 44 – 49 ]. Among the studies, 11 of them is from Israel [ 4 , 9 , 30 – 32 , 34 , 44 – 46 , 48 , 49 ], three studies from Turkey [ 40 , 41 , 43 ], two studies from Iran [ 36 , 38 ], a study from Uganda [ 29 ], a study from Nigeria [ 47 ], a study from Egypt [ 33 ], a study from UAE [ 37 ], a study from Syria [ 39 ], a study from Tanzania [ 42 ] and a study from Jordan [ 35 ]. The smallest sample size was 66 [ 38 ], and the largest was 2000 [ 35 ].…”

“…In terms of social problems [ 44 , 46 ], children with polygamous parents have higher risk of family dysfunction with MD 0.33 (95% CI: − 0.11, 0.77) compared to monogamous marriage. For school achievement, two studies [ 45 , 46 ] reported children with polygamous parents had lower scores compared to monogamous parents and a study [ 47 ] reported that children with polygamous parents had difficulties in understanding subjects such as Mathematics and English.…”

The effects of polygamy on children and adolescents: a systematic review

“…Children from polygynous families self-reported lower understanding of academic subjects than those from monogamous families in Bamgbade and Saloviita's (2014) research. Cherian's (1994) research reported that corporal punishment negatively affected the academic achievement of children from polygynous and monogamous homes equally, except for girls from polygynous homes.…”

“…Statistically significant differences for fathers' education were found in 5 studies, with lower levels and/or fewer years of education found for polygynous fathers than monogamous fathers (Al-Krenawi et al, 2002;Al-Krenawi & Lightman, 2000;Al-Krenawi & Slonim-Nevo, 2008;Elbedour, Bart & Hektner, 2003;Hamdan, Auerbach & Apter, 2009). Two studies found no significant differences in father education between polygynous and monogamous families (Bamgbade, & Saloviita, 2014;Elbedour, Hektner, Morad & Abu-Bader, 2003). The remaining 6 papers did not report the fathers' education history separately.…”

“…Three studies reported that family income and/or parental employment was lower in polygynous than monogamous families (Al-Krenawi et al, 2002;Al-Krenawi & SlonimNevo, 2008, Hamden et al, 2009, two reported no differences in the range of occupations (Al-Krenawi & Lightman, 2000;Bamgbade & Saloviita, 2014) and the remaining 8 papers did not report extractable information to compare family income/occupations. This lack of consistency in reports of parental education and income creates difficulties for proposing these variables as influential variables for child and adolescent outcomes.…”