PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS AND COPING MECHANISM AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Stress is defined as the state of psychological and physiological imbalance that results from an individual not being able to manage situational demands of life. Chronic stress results in psychological stress which affects an individual’s health/wellbeing and about 16% of the global burden of diseases is related to mental health problems among adolescents. Few studies have been done on the concept of psychological stress within Nigeria, hence the need to investigate on the psychological stress and the coping mechanisms among in-school adolescents in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey which employed a multistage sampling technique. This study was conducted in schools located in Ibadan North Local Government Area. Four hundred in-school adolescents were recruited for this study and a multi-stage sampling was used in selecting them in accordance with the sample size. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to document their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, prevalence, coping mechanisms and associated factors of Psychological stress. The Brief Cope were adapted to screen for the coping mechanisms and General Health questionnaire were adapted to screen for the prevalence of psychological stress. Knowledge score was measured on a 16-point scale and scores (≤ 6) were categorised as poor, (≤ 11) as fair and (≤ 16) as good knowledge. The prevalence of psychological stress was assessed on a 36 points scale and scores (≥15) were categorised as being psychologically stressed and scores (<15) as not being psychologically stressed. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23, using descriptive and inferential statistics at ˂ 5% level of significance and the results were presented in prose, tables, and charts. The mean age of respondents was 14 ± 2 years, more than half of the respondents (86.9%) were within the age of 12-16 years. About (47.3%) of the respondents were males while (52.5%) were female. The awareness level was low (43.8%) and majority of respondents had no knowledge (55.8%) about Psychological stress. The overall knowledge score obtained from the respondents was 7.7 ±2.7. The prevalence of Psychological stress was determined to be (56%) and the most common classified coping mechanisms observed among the respondents (49.1%) was avoidance coping mechanism. The core factors that were significantly associated with prevalence of psychological stress using chi-square and regression analysis are: seeing things from a negative view, having too many responsibilities at home, getting a lot of expectations from parents, getting too many expectations from teachers, having pressure to fit in with peers, being ignored by the one I like and not getting along with my boy/girlfriends. Using regression analysis, seeing things from a negative point of view was observed to be the major determinant of psychological stress among the Adolescents (OR: 1.931 and p-value: 0.003). A high prevalence of psychological stress and high frequency of poor knowledge of psychological stress were observed among the respondents. Hence, the need for more sensitization on psychological stress and its coping mechanisms by implementing intervention programs that will help to educate teachers, adolescents, and parents