Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.5, No.19, 2014 96 Effect of Family Environment on Student Academic Performance and Adjustment Problems In School. Shafa .A. Yunus,Samuel Laraba Baba Department of Psychology, Nasarawa State University Keffi PAUL S. WAI Department of General & Applied Psychology, University of Jos, Plateau State. E-mail: shafaabdulyunus@gmail.com ABSTRACT The study investigates the effect of family environment on student’s academic performance and adjustment problems among year one students of school of health Technology Keffi, Nasarawa State. The study included 168 students made up of 77 males and 91 females from four Departments in the School, ranging between the age of 16 – 20 years. The results revealed that family environment has no effect on Academic performance of the student; also there is no gender difference in school adjustment and academic performance of the participants. However, in cons tract, family environment has effect on school adjustment. This finding suggests the need for parents to pay attention on their relationship with children while in school as it may has effect on them negatively. INTRODUCTION Much concern has been drawn on the extent to which adjustment problem and poor academic performance among a significant numbers of health technology students become pressing issue facing health education. The concerns need to be studied in detail and solutions need to be built into the curriculum in order to help students with such difficulties. In the attend, different form of researches have been carried on the difficulty in learning in school but little done in the area of comparing family environment, school adjustment problems and academic achievement among students in tertiary institutions. And it is an area that requires serious attention. This is because people have different family orientations, which has to do with their behaviors either to be good or bad. This includes how to cope with situations they come across in their daily lives and adjust to the expected behavior or task required of them. Family environment appears to influence school adjustment as well as academic performance. Families in general and parents in particular, have often been deemed to be the most important support system available to the child. The strongest factor in molding a child’s personality or behavior is his relationship with his parents. Students who have struggled academically in most cases are at higher risk of school avoidance, and ultimately dropping out, than those who are successful. Ideally school is a place that makes students feel competent and successful, which breeds motivation and self-confidence. For the struggling students, however, school is often a place that only serves to reinforce his already low self-esteem. He does not see himself as a “good student” nor does he believe it is possible for him to ever become a good student, especially if he has participated in past interventions that have only proven to be frustrating and unsuccessful. The student attempts to avoid these feelings of failure by staying home (Lytton and Romney, 1992). This study has investigated the perception of family environment and its influence on school adjustment. It has also investigated the effect of parent – student’s relationship on academic performance in School. And it has estimated the rate of poor adjustment among students in health institutions. Lastly it has investigated the effect of gender on the adjustment in school environment. The findings of this study are additional information to the existing relationship between students, lecturers, parents of the students and student behavioral problems in Nigerian schools. It has also identified critical areas for the improvement of academic performance and coping strategies among students in Nigeria institutions. And also the study can be consider as an important material for further studies. In order to ensure focus on this study the following hypotheses were formulated. 1. Family environment will likely significantly impact on academic performance. 2. There will be a likely significant effect of family environment on school adjustment.