DETERMINANTS OF MARITAL INSTABILITY AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Marital instability has become an issue of concern in Nigeria. Most marriages have been under serious threat of disintegration. It is against this background that the study examined the determinants of marital instability among married women in Southwest, Nigeria. It determined the prevalence, level of marital instability and impacts on married women. The descriptive research design of the survey type was adopted for the study. The population consisted of married women in Government Ministries and Departments, Public Secondary Schools, and Local Government secretariat offices in Southwest, Nigeria. The sample for this study consisted of 1,703 married women selected through multi-stage sampling procedures. A self-developed questionnaire tagged Marital Instability Questionnaire (MIQ) was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was validated and a reliability co-efficient of 0.83 was obtained through Cronbach Alpha method. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentages and mean scores. The findings revealed that the most prevalent forms of marital instability experienced by married women included lack of sexual satisfaction, views not respected, lack of care for children and fighting. It further revealed that the level of marital instability among married women was moderate. The finding also showed that in-law interference and childlessness influenced marital instability while cultural belief, age difference at marriage and religion were not factors that determined marital instability among married women. It was recommended that married women should be encouraged to utilize the services of health educators, marriage counselors and office of the public defender for proper guidance.