Factors Predicting Depressed Mood among Victims of Stressful Life Event: The Case of Spouses of Incarcerated Males in Ibadan, Nigeria

Authors

  • Shyngle Kolawole Balogun University of Ibadan , Nigeria
  • Bukola victoria Bada University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Keywords:

Depressed mood, Coping strategies, Social support, Perceived social stigma, Emotional needs

Abstract

The occurrence of major life events such as incarceration of a partner signals a period of increased risk of depressed mood and when supportive interventions are lacking it may result from evolution of distress to disorder. This study examined  factors predicting depressed mood among female partners of prisoners in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 109 female partners of inmates in Ibadan who were selected through purposive sampling techniques participated in the study. The ages of the participants ranged between 20 years to 65years with mean age of 39.47years and standard deviation of 10.03 years. Data collection was through the use of questionnaires. Multiple regressions were used to test the hypothesis. Findings indicate that coping strategies (problem focused and emotion focused), social support, perceived social stigma and emotional needs significantly jointly predicted depressed mood with (R2 = .47, F = (5,103) = 18.92; P <.001). This implies that emphasis should be placed on coping strategies, social support, perceived social stigma and emotional needs as the factors mediating depressed mood among female partners of inmates in this study. However, it was suggested that effective coping mechanism should be adopted  in order to handle circumstances that are responsible for expression of  depressed mood as this enhance or improve the mental and psychological status of the  spouses of incarcerated males and possibly change their perception about depression encountered as a result of the stressful life event.

Author Biographies

Shyngle Kolawole Balogun, University of Ibadan , Nigeria

Shyngle Balogun is a professor of applied experimental social psychology at the university of ibadan, NigeriaNigeria

Bukola victoria Bada, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Bada is currently pursing a Ph.D degree programme at the Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, where she is employed as a Teaching assistrant.

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Published

2013-12-14

How to Cite

Balogun, S. K., & Bada, B. victoria. (2013). Factors Predicting Depressed Mood among Victims of Stressful Life Event: The Case of Spouses of Incarcerated Males in Ibadan, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 1(5). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJHSS/article/view/663