Social Support, Coping Strategies and Academic Adjustment of First Year University Undergraduates in Rivers State, Nigeria. (Published)

This study was designed to determine the extent to which social support, and coping strategies predict academic adjustment of first year university undergraduates in Rivers State, Nigeria. Correlation design was adopted for the study. Three research questions and three corresponding hypotheses guided the conduct of the study at 0.05 alpha levels. A sample of 382 first year university undergraduates of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, 2015/2016 academic session was drawn from the population through purposive and proportional stratified random sampling techniques. Three instruments namely; Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support, Coping Strategies Inventory and Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire – Academic subscale were used for data collection. Simple and multiple regression analyses were used for data analysis. All data were subjected to analysis using statistical package for social science (SPSS). Results showed that; social support statistically significantly predicted academic adjustment of first year university undergraduates; coping strategies (problem-focused and emotion-focused) taken together statistically significantly predicted academic adjustment of first year university undergraduates; on the basis of individual contribution, problem-focused was a significant contributor to academic adjustment of first year university undergraduates while emotion-focused was not. Based on the findings, conclusion and recommendations were made.

Keywords: Academic, Coping, Social, Strategies., and adjustment, support

Psychological Concerns among Adult Cancer Patients Attending Oncology Clinic at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya (Published)

There is an increased chance of developing psychological and psychiatric disorders during Cancer diagnosis. This has consequently impacted on patient’s state of health and medical treatment. Psychiatric disorders are experienced by cancer patients at all stages of the disease. There is evidence of growing numbers of people diagnosed with cancer every year, in the developing countries.  Kenya among them continues to have this burden growing. A critical part of cancer care is the recognition of the levels of psychological problems that present among patients with cancer and determination of the appropriate level of intervention, ranging from brief counselling or psychological interventions and social support to medication and specific coping styles. This paper aims to determine the psychological issues among adult cancer patients as seen at the oncology clinic of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret. The study took a cross-sectional and descriptive approach focusing on patients diagnosed with cancer. The author used interview guide, designed socio-demographic and clinical questionnaire and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for adults (M.I.N.I Plus) instrument in data collection.  Data analysis was done using Microsoft excel worksheet and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0.  Results were presented in form of tables, charts and graph swith majority of the patients being females as compared to males. Breast cancer and cervical cancer were found to be the most forms affecting the respondents with most patients being diagnosed at the advanced stages. Depression episode, dysthymia and Suicide risk were among others the identified Psychological issues affecting the respondents.

Keywords: Adjustments, Cancer, Coping, Diagnosis, Psychological concerns, Quality of life

Psychological Concerns among Adult Cancer Patients Attending Oncology Clinic at MOI Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya (Published)

There is an increased chance of developing psychological and psychiatric disorders during Cancer diagnosis. This has consequently impacted on patient’s state of health and medical treatment. Psychiatric disorders are experienced by cancer patients at all stages of the disease. There is evidence of growing numbers of people diagnosed with cancer every year, in the developing countries.  Kenya among them continues to have this burden growing. A critical part of cancer care is the recognition of the levels of psychological problems that present among patients with cancer and determination of the appropriate level of intervention, ranging from brief counselling or psychological interventions and social support to medication and specific coping styles. This paper aims to determine the psychological issues among adult cancer patients as seen at the oncology clinic of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret. The study took a cross-sectional and descriptive approach focusing on patients diagnosed with cancer. The author used interview guide, designed socio-demographic and clinical questionnaire and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for adults (M.I.N.I Plus) instrument in data collection.  Data analysis was done using Microsoft excel worksheet and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0.  Results were presented in form of tables, charts and graph with majority of the patients being females as compared to males. Breast cancer and cervical cancer were found to be the most forms affecting the respondents with most patients being diagnosed at the advanced stages. Depression episode, dysthymia and Suicide risk were among others the identified Psychological issues affecting the respondents.

Keywords: Adjustments, Cancer, Coping, Diagnosis, Psychological concerns, Quality of life