Academic Engagement, learning Interests, and Psychological well-being of Undergraduates from Single-Parenting Backgrounds

Students' home background and parental status could influence their academic outcomes. In recent times, cases of divorce and early death of either spouse have left many students, especially in higher institutions of learning, in the hands and care of a single parent. In the context of this study, it is perceived that underperforming students are those from a single-parentage, an assumption that needs further inquiry. Therefore, this study examined the levels of undergraduates’ learning interest, academic engagement, and psychological well-being and how they relate to their single parentage. Underpinned by the Self-determination Theory (ST), this study adopts the cross-sectional quantitative research type of the non-experimental design. Undergraduates enrolled in degree programmes at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti in Nigeria comprised the study's population, which was selected using purposive and simple random techniques. An instrument tagged “Students’ Academic Engagement, Learning Interest, Psychological Well-being and Single-parenting Questionnaire (SAELIPWSQ)" with Cronbach alpha of 0.92, 0.85, and 0.70, respectively, was hosted on Google Forms and used for data collection. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentages, and median) and correlational analysis were used to examine the study's data at a 5% significance level using SPSS V6 software. Findings indicate the sampled undergraduates' high learning interests, academic engagement, and psychological well-being. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship exists among undergraduates’ learning interests, academic engagement, psychological well-being, and single parentage. It is recommended that "the government and non-governmental organisations provide special support" for single parents and students from such backgrounds to boost these single parents' involvement in the educational and academic life of these students. Contextually, all forms of disregard and contempt against single parents and students from single-parenting backgrounds should be alleviated or eradicated by legislation and other enforcement agencies.