PSYCHOSOCIAL DEPRIVATION OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

This study investigated psychosocial deprivations among nursery school pupils in Ezinihitte Local Government Area of Imo
State, Nigeria. The sample consist of 150 pupils who were drawn through proportionate random sampling technique from 6
public nursery schools in the area of study. Four research questions were posed and data for their investigation were
collected using copies of researchers developed questionnaire called Psychosocial Deprivation and Pre-school Assessment
Questionnaire (PDPSAQ). The test – restest reliability co-efficient of this instrument within an interval of two weeks is 0.89.
The teachers interpreted the items in the questionnaire to the pupils and scored their responses. All the research questions
were answered with simple percentage test statistic and the results show that nursery school pupils suffer psychological and
social deprivations. It also shows that girls suffer more psychological and social deprivations than the boys. These results
were discussed and some useful recommendations made one of these is that parents/guardians should desist from differential
socialization of male and female children.