Financial Strain and Time Scarcity as Sources of Marital Conflict among Secondary School Teachers in Rivers State, Nigeria
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This study examined financial strain and insufficient spousal time as perceived sources of marital conflict among public senior secondary school teachers in Rivers State, Nigeria. A focused secondary analysis was conducted using summary evidence from a doctoral survey. The source population comprised 7,619 teachers in 261 public senior secondary schools; 366 questionnaires were administered and 342 usable responses were analysed, representing a 93.44% response rate. Data were collected with the Teachers’ Sources of Marital Conflict and Management Strategies Scale (TSMCMSS), a four-point instrument subjected to expert validation and pilot reliability testing. Six of ten time-related indicators and seven of ten financial indicators exceeded the source study’s 2.50 criterion mean. Time-related problems were strongest for lack of fun with spouse (M = 3.63), reduced attention to the marriage (M = 3.42) and insufficient discussion time (M = 3.22). Financial pressures were strongest for inadequate food provision (M = 3.42), difficulty paying bills (M = 3.28) and inability to purchase a car (M = 3.02). A reconstructed independent-samples test based on the archived group summaries showed no meaningful school-location difference in time-scarcity ratings, t(340) = 0.18, p = .858, Hedges’ g = .02. Recalculation of the archived finance ANOVA from its reported sums of squares and degrees of freedom also indicated no significant difference by educational qualification, F(5, 336) = 1.57, p = .169, η² = .023. The findings suggest that time scarcity and financial strain are broadly relevant marital pressures among teachers, but the available subgroup evidence does not support strong demographic differentiation. Counselling and teacher-support interventions should therefore address household financial coping and protection of relationship time while avoiding deterministic assumptions about school location or qualification.
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