This study was carried out to examine the relationship between child abuse and aggressive behaviour among secondary school students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A descriptive research design of survey type was adopted for the study. The population for this study comprised all public secondary school students in Ekiti State. The sample consisted of 200 students drawn from five secondary schools through simple random sampling. A self- designed questionnaire tagged “Child Abuse and Behavioural Problems Questionnaire” (CABPQ) was used to collect data. Expert judgments were used to ensure face and content validity. Test-retest method was used to determine the reliability and a reliability coefficient of 0.70 was obtained. Data collected were analysed by using frequency counts and percentages for descriptive analysis. The hypothesis was tested by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The result revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between child abuse and aggressive behaviour among the students. Based on this finding, it was recommended among others, that policy makers in the country should embark on policy actions that would facilitate the prevention of aggressive behaviour and that there should be a regular series of lectures for the students on the topic “Aggressive behaviours and its implications”. Also, it was recommended that regular talks should be given to parents on proper ways of treating one’s child, during Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meetings.
Keywords: Aggressive Behaviour, Child abuse, Maltreatment, Parents, family
