Christabel LONGE

This study examined the influence of early childhood experiences on the academic selfconcept of senior secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, adopting a psychoanalytic perspective. The research was driven by the view that childhood experiences form the foundation of personality development, emotional stability, and later academic functioning. A descriptive survey design was used, and a sample of two hundred students was selected through a multistage sampling procedure. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient above .70 was used to collect data on early childhood experiences and academic self-concept. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and independent samples t-test. The findings showed that emotional support, parental involvement, and quality of early childhood interactions were positively associated with academic self-concept among students. Children who experienced warmth, stability, and consistent guidance developed more positive academic self-beliefs compared with those who experienced neglect, frequent conflict, or instability during childhood. The results further indicated that early childhood experiences significantly predicted academic self-concept, while gender showed no significant difference in the influence of these early experiences on academic self-concept. The study concluded that early childhood experiences play an important role in shaping how students perceive their academic abilities, supporting psychoanalytic assumptions that early life events leave lasting impressions on personality and behaviour. It was recommended that parents, caregivers, and educators provide nurturing, emotionally supportive, and developmentally appropriate early childhood environments to promote healthier academic self-beliefs among learners.