ABSTRACT

 This study sought to determine whether parental achievement orientation predicts self-concept and academic self-efficacy of in-school adolescents in Delta State. This desire was also motivated by the need to determine whether gender has any relationship with self-concept and academic self-efficacy of in-school adolescents. To guide the study, four research questions were generated and four null hypotheses were formulated and tested, at .05 levels of significance. The research design adopted by this study was correlational research design. A total of I 160 senior secondary school students proportionately drawn from public senior secondary schools in Delta State were used for the study. Three instruments namely: - Parental Achievement Orientation Scale (PAOS), Adolescents Self-Concept Scale (ASCS), and Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) were developed, validated and used for the study. The internal consistency reliability of the instruments were calculated using Cronbach Alpha procedure and reliability estimates of .81, .86 and .92 were gotten for the PAOS, ASCS and ASES, respectively. The researcher administered the instruments with the help of three research assistants. Data obtained through the administration of the three instruments were organized and analyzed using Pearson's (r) Product Moment Correlation to answer research questions; while linear regressions were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance which revealed the following findings:- Parental achievement orientation to a positive high and significant extent predicts the self-concept of in-school adolescents; parental achievement orientation to a positive high and significant extent predicts the self-efficacy of in-school adolescents; the relationship between parental achievement orientation and self-concept of in-school adolescents based on gender is significant but to a positive moderate extent: and the relationship between parental achievement orientation and self-efficacy of in-school adolescents based on gender is significant but to a positive moderate extent. Among the educational implications was that the study could provide supportive frameworks from which one can assess how the students explore the environment and master the challenges within that environment. It was thus recommended that parents or guardians should educate their children on the importance of parental achievement orientation in academic achievement.