TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgments iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
List of tables vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1
Statement of the problem 17
Purpose of the study 17
Operational definition of terms 18
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Review 20
Empirical Review 34
Summary of literature Review 42
Hypotheses 44
CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
Participants 45
Instruments 45
Procedure 51
Design/Statistics 51
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 52
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION 65
Implication of the findings 68
Limitation of the study 70
Recommendations 70
Summary and conclusion 71
REFERENCES 72
APPENDIXES
LIST OF TABLES
Table1: Regression model summary showing Extraversion, Aggreeableness, Consciousness, Neuroticism, Openness, Family conflict and Age in Marriage as predictors on somatization, Obsessive-Compulsion, Hostility and Phobic Anxiety.
Table2: Multiple regression Beta coefficient showing significant predictors of Extraversion, Aggreeableness, Consciousness, Neuroticism, Openness, Family conflict and Age in Marriage on somatization.
Table 3:Correlations matrix of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, neuroticism, openness, family conflict, age in marriage and somatization.
Table 4: Multiple regression Beta coefficient showing significant predictors of Extraversion, Aggreeableness, Consciousness, Neuroticism, Openness, Family conflict and Age in Marriage on obsessive-compulsion.
Table 5:Correlations matrix of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, neuroticism, openness, family conflict, age in marriage and obsessive-compulsion.
Table 6: Multiple regression Beta coefficient showing significant predictors of Extraversion, Aggreeableness, Consciousness, Neuroticism, Openness, Family conflict and Age in Marriage on Hostility.
Table 7: Correlations matrix of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, neuroticism, openness, family conflict, age in marriage and hostility.
Table 8: Multiple regression Beta coefficient showing significant predictors of Extraversion, Aggreeableness, Consciousness, Neuroticism, Openness, Family conflict and Age in Marriage on Phobic anxiety.
Table 9: Correlations matrix of extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, neuroticism, openness, family conflict, age in marriage and phobic anxiety.
ABSTRACT
The study investigated personality, family conflict and age in marriage as predictors of postpartum distress. Two hundred and seven (207) women in their postpartum period participated in the study and were purposefully drawn from Federal Medical Center and Specialist Hospital Lokoja. Three hypotheses were tested: Personality will not significantly related to postpartum distress. Family conflict will not significantly related to postpartum distress. Age in marriage will not significantly related to postpartum distress. Three instruments: Big five personality inventory, Symptoms distress checklist (SCL90) and Family Environment Scale were used for data collection. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed a significant relationship between family conflict and somatization (β= .20, t= 2.98, P < .005) and age in marriage (β= .16, t= 2.44, P < .05). The result also shows significant relationship between family conflict and obsessive compulsion (β = .20, t= 2.90, P <.005) and age in marriage (β= .13, t= 2.03, P < .05). The result also indicates a significant relationship between extraversion and hostility (β= .18, t= 2.62, P < .05), Agreeableness and hostility (β= .23, t= 2.31, P < .05), Openness and hostility (β= .26, t= 3.37, P < .005) and family conflict and hostility (β= .24, t= 3.68, P < .005). It also showed a significant relationship between family conflict and phobic anxiety (β = .33, t=5.04, P <.001) and age in marriage and phobic anxiety (β= .23, t= 3.53, P < .005). The implication and limitations were discussed and suggestions were made for further study.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The birth of a child in several cultures is heralded with happiness; and feasts are held to celebrate it. The period that follows child birth is termed postpartum period. It is however a period that is known to be associated with events that can cause both physiological and psychological changes in the life of the woman. It could be regarded as a significant life event. Prominent risks to life have been associated with pregnancy, child birth and postpartum. Life threatening events in pregnancy include hemorrhage, infections, unsafe abortion, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and minor symptoms ranging from vomiting, nausea and marked hypertension (MacArthur, 1991; MacArthur, Lewis & Knox, 1991; Thorpe, Greenwood & Goodenough, 1995). Other changes occur in biological secretions, immune systems and responses. Psychological symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, and loss of socio-economic status, depression, eating disorders and pains (Fisher, CabraldeMello & Izutsu, 2003). These may be a source of distress to the mother during postpartum. A collection of symptoms that affects psychological or mental health of women after child birth is termed postpartum distress including postpartum blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. The term postpartum and postnatal can be used interchangeably.
In most parts of the world, attention is being given to the processes of alleviating or treatment of physical or biological factors towards preventing maternal and infant mortality and/or morbidity. As pregnancy, child birth and postpartum stages get safer, with subsequent reduction in infant and maternal death from septic and infectious procedures made possible by advanced methods in medicine. Much less attention has been given to mental health as a contributing factor to maternal and infant wellbeing (Affonsso & Mayberry, 1990). Violence is seen as contributing factor in maternal mortality (Frausetchi, Ceralli, & Maine, 1994). Considering an integration of psychological or mental health status of women during pregnancy, child birth and postpartum are necessary. This is because during this period women often relinquish their autonomy, personal liberty, occupation, identity, capacity to generate income and social relation for caring and nurturing of the infant (Thorpe & Elliott, 1998). The rate and determinants of suicide either in pregnancy or after child birth have proved difficult to determine because of the extent to which the problem is under- estimated or obscured in recording of the causes of death or due to unavailable systematic data.
Brockington (1998) opined that child birth should be seen as a general stressor that can cause illness across the whole spectrum of psychiatric disorders. Postpartum or postnatal period is a period of increased risk for development of mood/affective disorders. There are three forms of postpartum affective illnesses: The blues (baby blues) and maternal blues, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. These differ in their clinical presentation and management (Robertson, Calasum & Stewarts, 2008).
Maternal stress and mental illness seen to have a profound impact in less developed parts of the world. A mother experiencing mental disorder in a low income setting is at risk of providing sub-optimal care for her offspring, which have grave consequences on the health of the woman. Poverty, overcrowding, poor sanitation, malnutrition, tropical diseases, lack of appropriate medical and psychological services may have impact on development of postpartum distress (Patel, DeSouza & Rodrigues, 2003; Rahman, Lovel, Bunn, Iqbal & Harrington, 2004). The most common postpartum distress is the postpartum depression. It is a clinical and research construct used to describe an episode of major or minor depression arising from child birth (Cox, 1994; Epperson, 1999; Paykel, 2002). Postpartum depression usually begins within the first month to twelve months after child birth. The term is used to describe a non-psychotic depressive episode that begins in postpartum period (Cox, Murray & Chapman, 1993). The period that starts from the moment the placenta is expelled to six weeks is termed as early postpartum. After this period is considered late postpartum period.
