INFLUENCE OF SINGLE-PARENT AND DUAL-PARENT FAMILIES ON CYBERCRIME INVOLVEMENT AMONG ADOLESCENTS

This study examined the influence of single-parent and dual-parent families on cybercrime
involvement among adolescents in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study was guided by two
objectives, two research questions, and two null hypotheses tested at the 0.05 level of
significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population
comprised 64,817 Senior Secondary School II (SS II) students in public secondary schools in
Rivers State, while a sample of 382 respondents was selected using a multistage sampling
technique. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Influence
of Family Structure on Cybercrime Involvement Questionnaire (IFSCIQ). The instrument
was subjected to face and content validation by experts, while its reliability was
established through a pilot study using Cronbach's Alpha, which yielded an acceptable
reliability coefficient. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard
deviation to answer the research questions, while the hypotheses were tested using
simple linear regression analysis at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed
that single-parent families have a significant positive influence on cybercrime involvement
among adolescents (R = .512, R² = .262, β = .512, p < .05), indicating that adolescents from
single-parent families are more vulnerable to involvement in cybercrime. The study also
found that dual-parent families have a significant negative influence on cybercrime
involvement among adolescents (R = .641, R² = .411, β = -.641, p < .05), suggesting that
effective dual-parent family environments serve as protective factors against cybercrime
involvement. The study concluded that family structure significantly influences
adolescents' involvement in cybercrime and that parental supervision, communication,
and emotional support are essential in preventing cyber-related delinquent behaviour.
The study recommended that parents should strengthen supervision and monitoring of
adolescents' online activities regardless of family structure, while schools and relevant
stakeholders should implement family-based digital safety education and counselling
programmes to reduce adolescent involvement in cybercrime.