Abstract

The study examined adolescents’ psychosocial challenges and its effects on the academic pursuit of Senior High School students in the Northern Region, Ghana. The sample of the study consisted of 196 students, of which 122 were males and 74 were females. The Psychosocial Challenge and Academic Pursuit Scales were adapted and used in determining the gender differences in psychosocial challenges of male and female students and how these challenges affect their academic pursuit. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The researchers used an independent sample t-test and simple linear regression to test the hypotheses. The reliability and validity of the scales were established. The results indicated that there were no statistically significant gender differences in the level of psychosocial challenges experienced by male and female students. Besides, the female group (N = 74) was associated with a much larger psychosocial challenge, M = 2.5625 (SD =.25692), while the male group (N = 122) was associated with a numerically smaller psychosocial challenge, M = 2.4756 (SD =.35257). Also, the findings showed that there was a statistically significant effect of psychosocial challenges on the academic pursuit of Senior High School students. The study recommended that there was a need for broader stakeholder consultation to sensitise students about the need to seek counselling when they are confronted with psychosocial issues in school, so that they would be able to deal effectively with these challenges and focus on their academic ambitions.