Adolescents' Developmental Challenges in Single-Parent Families

Objective: Single-parent families are considered family structures in which only one parent, who may be the father or mother, is living and raising their children. Many challenges faced by adolescents living in single-parent households in the domains of psychological, behavioral, emotional, economic, and educational may influence their overall well-being, resilience, and academic performance. Aims: to assess developmental challenges faced by adolescent students from single-parent households. To identify the association between adolescent challenges and the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Methods and Materials: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed from November 1, 2025, to March 20, 2025. The study was conducted in Babylon Province, Iraq, among 222 secondary school students. Data were gathered through a modified questionnaire and analyzed electronically using SPSS, version 22. Findings: The study revealed that 62.6% of the sample were between 12 and 15 years old, with 67.6% being male and 27.0% from the second intermediate grade. The overall assessment of challenges was moderate for 58.6% of the sample. Conclusion: Moderate challenges faced adolescent students from single-parent families, and there is a significant correlation between challenges and class level, family income, mother's education, and gender of the single parent. It is recommended that every school should involve academic and counselling units to address issues of students who come from single-parent families and provide psychological and emotional, financial, and educational support. Counsellors should be adequately prepared to deal with the different difficulties that they may face with students from single-parent families.