INFLUENCE OF ETHNICITY, CAREER AND MARITAL STATUS ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: THE PERSPECTIVES OF NIGERIAN MOTHERS

Abstract

This study examined Influence of ethnicity, career and marital status on depressive symptoms among mothers. Three hundred and eighty three participants were used for the study. They all consist of mothers who were selected through simple random sampling procedure. Their age ranges from 18- 57 years, with a mean age of 3.39080and standard deviation of .98052.The instrument adopted for the study consists of 13-items which measure depressive symptoms classified as (Domain J) of SCL 90 developed by Derogates et al., (1973). The study adopted 3x3x3 factorial design was adopted, while 3 way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. The first hypothesis which stated that Ethnicity will significantly influence Depressive Symptoms among Mothers was accepted at (F=9.204, sig.000).The second hypothesis which stated that Career will significantly influence Depressive Symptoms among Mothers was accepted at (F=5.966, sig.003).The third hypothesis which stated that Marital Status will significantly influence Depressive Symptoms among Mothers was also accepted at (f=3.558, sig.015).Based on the findings of this study, the researchers, therefore, recommended that they should endeavour to put more efforts in observing how ethnicity, career and marital status have influence on elevating depressive symptoms in mothers, mothers with depressive symptoms should be encouraged and taught the importance of primary group relation, clinical psychologist and other Health Professionals should intervene and deal with hidden factors associated with Depressive Symptoms among mothers.