Moses Githinji Macharia2024-08-142024-08-142024-08-14https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/handle/123456789/4463The family holds a critical role as a fundamental unit within society which impacts human beings from all dimensions. Negative patterns of parental behavior within functional families can often carry over to their adolescents’ lives. Therefore, the study aimed to examine the influence of dysfunctional families on the academic performance among students in public mixed day public secondary schools in Juja Sub County of Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the influence of parental separation and divorce on academic performance among students in public mixed day schools in Juja Sub County, determine the influence of parental alcoholism in students’ academic performance in public mixed day secondary schools in Juja Sub County, to evaluate the influence of domestic conflicts on academic achievements of students in public mixed day secondary schools in Juja Sub County and the role of students’ behaviour in the relationship between dysfunctional families and students’ academic performance in public mixed day secondary schools in Juja Sub County. Family Systems Theory and Resilience Theory, was used to examine parenting practices and their impact on adolescent’s development. The study was guided by correlational research design. A sample size of 309respondents was selected, and twenty key informants consisting of 10 principals and 10 guidance and counseling teachers. Purposive sampling was used to select principals and guidance and counseling teachers, stratified sampling was employed to recruit students per school, and simple random sampling was used to recruit participating students per class. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the respondents, and structured interview guide was used to collect qualitative data from the school principals and counseling and guidance teachers who were the key informants. Quantitative data was analyzed using mean, frequencies, standard deviations, and regression analysis using SPSS v25, while qualitative data was thematically analyzed using Nvivo v12 software. Chi-square test revealed a significant relationship between parental divorce/separation and academic performance (χ² (1) = 5.352, p < .05). Respondents perceived parental alcoholism to minimally influence academic performance (Mean = 1.74, SD = 0.713), with a weak but significant negative correlation (r = -.153, p < .05). There was a low correlation between parental conflict and academic performance (r = -.081, p > .05). Family dysfunction significantly predicted both academic performance (β = -.123, p < .05) and student behaviors (β =.468, p < .01), but the respondents behaviors did not significantly mediate the relationship between family dysfunction and academic performance (β = -.063, p > .05). The key informants ‘interviews supported quantitative findings, emphasizing psychological distress, academic disengagement, financial challenges, and behavioral issues as impacts of family dysfunction. Conclusion was drawn that family dysfunction adversely affected students’ academic performance through psychological distress, though student behaviors played an insignificant role in this relationship. Educators and school administrators should be equipped with training and resources to recognize and support students experiencing difficulties related to parental separation or divorce. Marriage and family therapists can be instrumental in this endeavor. Additional studies could explore in greater detail the precise mechanisms by which parental separation and divorce influence the academic performance among studentsenThesis