FAMILY CLIMATE AS PREDICTOR OF QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated family climate as a predictor of quality of life among undergraduates in public universities in Anambra State. The aim of the study was to explore family climate as a predictor of quality of life among undergraduates in public universities in Anambra state. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 54,998 undergraduates from public universities in Anambra State. Taro Yamane was used to determine the sample size of 397 undergraduates. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to select the sample.  The instruments used for data collection were Family Climate Scale (FCS) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BRIEF). Cronbach Alpha reliability co-efficients method was used to establish the reliability of the instruments. The computation yielded co-efficient values of 0.82 and 0.80 for FCS and WHOQOL-BRIEF respectively. Simple regression analysis was used for data analysis. The findings indicated that Family Climate had a strong positive predictive value for quality of life among undergraduates. The findings also showed a strong positive predictive value for quality of life among male and female undergraduates in public universities in Anambra state. Based on the findings, it was recommended that university management and community based organization should organize regular sensitization programmes, workshops and seminars for parents on the importance of maintaining a positive family climate.