This study examined the influence of family social instability on the academic achievement of lower basic social studies students in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was used for the study. The population of the study consisted of all the 3175 families in the seven (7) clans of Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting 315 families (10% of the study population) for the study. A 20 item questionnaire entitled Family social instability and academic achievement of Lower Basic School Students Questionnaire (FSIAALBSSQ) was developed by the researchers and validated by experts in Test and Measurement from Faculty of Education, University of Uyo. The reliability estimate of the instrument yielded a Cronbach’s Alpha of .87. Data collected from the instrument was analysed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while t-test was used for the null hypotheses. All the null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. Findings indicate that the rate of child abandonment is high in the area being a rural community ravaged by poverty whilst incidents of spouse beating is prevalent. It is recommended that tendencies that may lead to family social instability should be strongly resisted by parents while couples maintain harmonious living with their spouses to bring about peace in the family.
Keywords: Family Instability; Spouse Beating; Child Abandonment; Academic Performance; Basic Education
