Bereavement, Coping Strategies and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Nigeria's Owerri Education Zone, Imo State

This study examined the relationship between bereavement, coping strategies and academic achievement of secondary school students in Owerri Education Zone, Imo State. The study adopted a correlational survey design. The population comprised 620 bereaved secondary school students drawn from 12 public secondary schools in the zone, from which a sample of 240 students was drawn using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Two research questions guided the study, and two null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. Data were collected using the Bereavement, Coping Strategies and Academic Performance Questionnaire (BCAPQ), a 20-item four-point Likert-scale instrument validated by three experts and yielding Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of .77, .80 and .83 for its three sections. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC). Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between bereavement and students' academic achievement, and a significant positive relationship between students' coping strategies and their academic achievement. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among other things, that schools institute structured grief-support and counselling programmes and that guidance counsellors train bereaved students in adaptive coping strategies to safeguard academic performance.