Influence of Demographic Factors on Inter-Parental Conflict in Ruiru Sub-County Kiambu County Kenya (Published)

Article Author: Mercy Muthiga Mauki, Joash Wambua Mutua and Rosemary Wahu Mbogo

This paper analyses demographic factors that influence inter-parental conflict in Ruiru Sub-county, Kenya. The demographic factors include parental level of education, parental occupation, and age at marriage. The paper is drawn from a study that was undertaken in Ruiru Sub-county, Kiambu County in Kenya seeking to examine the effect of inter-parental conflict on academic achievement motivation among form three students. This paper thus makes reference to both the children’s and parents’ perceptions of how these factors influence inter-parental conflict. Guided by Abraham Maslow’s Hierachy of needs theory and Martin Selgman’s Learned Helplessness Theory, the study adopts a mixed method research design targeting form three students in the 31 public and private secondary schools in Ruiru Sub-county and their parents. A total of 281 randomly sampled students and 10 participated in the study through a Children Perception of Inter-parental Conflict Questionnaire (CPIC) and Focus Group Discussion Protocol for the selected parents. Data analysis was done both descriptively and using inferential statistics. These demographics factors were found to influence inter-parental conflict at different levels and therefore a recommendation was made that parents make effort to manage and resolve conflict before it escalates into hostilities and violence.