Cross-sectional Nigerian study links boarding routines with student personality and attitudes

A cross-sectional survey of 310 boarding secondary school students in Southwest Nigeria found that peer interaction, independence and decision-making were positively and statistically significantly associated with students’ reported personality development. The study also reported associations between these boarding-related experiences and students’ attitudes, while cautioning that the design cannot establish causation or changes over time.

The researchers examined whether personality development mediated relationships between four features of the boarding environment and students’ attitudes. The four features were peer interaction, independence, decision-making and separation from parental care. The analysis used social identity theory and Identity Process Theory, with the latter focusing on continuity, distinctiveness, self-esteem and efficacy as principles relevant to students’ adaptation to a changed social environment.

Students were recruited through stratified random sampling from secondary schools in Osun, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states. The target population was reported as approximately 130,000 boarding students in the region, and 398 participants were invited using a sample-size calculation. The final analyzed sample comprised 310 students: 167 male students, reported as 53.0%, and 143 female students, reported as 46.1%. The article contains inconsistent age ranges, but it states that 127 respondents were aged 7 to 15 and 183 were aged 16 to 24.

Data were collected face to face with a structured questionnaire containing demographic questions and five-point Likert-scale items. The instrument was reviewed by lecturers at the authors’ institution and piloted with about 50 respondents. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the study’s validity checks, with average variances extracted above 0.5 and composite-reliability coefficients above 0.7. However, the authors reported a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of 0.55, which they considered close to the borderline and a sign that the correlation patterns were relatively weak and the sample may not have been fully adequate for robust results.

The researchers used descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests and structural equation modelling, including path diagrams for direct and indirect effects. The reported equation-level goodness-of-fit measure was 0.9787, while the root mean square error was described as sufficiently close to zero. Wald and likelihood-ratio tests indicated that the fitted model was consistent with the data. These statistics assess model fit, but they do not demonstrate that boarding routines caused changes in personality or attitudes.

In the detailed path analysis, peer interaction, independence and decision-making had positive, statistically significant associations with personality development. Separation from parental care had a negative but statistically insignificant association with personality development. The article’s abstract separately reported that peer interaction, independence, decision-making and separation from parental care each had positive, statistically significant associations with students’ attitudes. The model also reported a negative, statistically significant association between personality development and attitudes, as well as a negative direct association between peer interaction and attitudes.

The mediation analysis produced mixed results rather than a single uniform pattern. Peer interaction, independence and decision-making had negative indirect-effect coefficients that the authors described as statistically significant, whereas the positive indirect coefficient for separation from parental care was not significant. The authors stated that personality development partially mediated the peer-interaction relationship with attitudes. They also described changes in the independence and decision-making paths after mediation as moderation, although the cross-sectional path model does not demonstrate causal moderation or a temporal sequence.

Based on the fitted model, the authors proposed that peer interaction, independence, decision-making and separation from parental care had direct associations with students’ attitudes, while peer interaction, independence and decision-making also had indirect associations through personality development. They interpreted the results in relation to identity disruption and the potentially influential role of peer groups during adolescence. These interpretations remain theoretical because the survey collected students’ perceptions at one point in time and did not measure personality development before the boarding experience or follow changes in the same students over time.

The study’s geographic scope was limited to boarding students in Southwest Nigeria, and its relatively small sample relative to the number invited limits broader generalization. The authors also called for studies in other regions, data triangulation through participant observation and further testing of additional moderators. Their practical proposals included providing professional guidance counsellors, monitoring peer interactions and developing extracurricular opportunities intended to strengthen peer learning, independence and decision-making. These were policy and management implications proposed by the authors, not interventions evaluated by the study.

Subject of Research: Cross-sectional study of boarding-school routines, personality development and student attitudes in Nigeria

Article Title: Boarding system and the attitudes of secondary school students: the mediation of personality development

Article References: Inegbedion, E., & Inegbedion, H. (2026). Boarding system and the attitudes of secondary school students: the mediation of personality development. Discover Education, 5(1), Article 932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-026-01614-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44217-026-01614-7

Keywords: boarding education, secondary students, personality development, student attitudes, peer interaction, social identity, structural equation modelling, cross-sectional survey, Nigeria, Boarding, system, attitudes