Social Support, Stress and Coping Styles of Caregivers of Children with Sickle Cell Disease. A Study of Mulago Hospital Kampala District –Uganda
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Date
2023-10-12
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Kampala International University
Abstract
The study was set to investigate the relationship between social support, stress and coping of care givers of children with sickle cell disease of Mulago Hospital Kampala Uganda. The objectives of the study were: i) to establish whether there a significant relationship between social support and coping of caregivers of children with sickle cell disease. ii) to examine whether there is a significant relationship between social support and stress among caregivers of children with sickle cell disease at Mulago hospital Kampala Uganda. iii) to examine whether there is a significant relationship between stress and coping among caregivers of children with sickle cell disease at Mulago hospital Kampala Uganda. iv) to examine whether there are significant gender differences among caregivers of children with sickle cell disease at Mulago hospital Kampala Uganda. The study was quantitative which used both correlational and causal comparative designs. The multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support, the perceived stress scale and the coping scale were the instruments used in data collection from 146 participants who consented to be part of the study. Eligible participants were randomly selected. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. was used in data entry and analysis .Descriptive results indicated that majority of the respondents were female at 61.64 % compared to their male counter parts at 38.4 % , Social support was rated high with an average mean of 2.57. Results also indicated high levels of stress by an average mean of 2.78. Coping was also rated high with an average of 2.66. Pearson Linear Correlation coefficients revealed that social support had no significant relationship with problem focused coping with a sig value =.830>0.05 level of significance, also results indicated no significant relationship social support and emotional focused coping at sig value =.007 >0.05 and also no relationship between social support and avoidance focused coping at sig.value =.373 >0.05. Findings also indicated a positive significant relationship between social support and stress revealed by an r.value=.356** and p.value=0.000. Results also indicated that stress has a significant relationship with problem focused coping with a sig.value=0.001< 0.005 level of significance, results further revealed that there is no significant relationship between stress and emotional focused coping by a sig.value=0.124>0.05 and finally stress having a significant correlation with Avoidance focused coping at sig.value=0.003<0.05 level of significance. Independent t-test results further revealed that there are no significant gender differences in engaging different coping styles. Hence implying that the levels of coping are almost the same among male and female caregivers. Conclusions were that social networks can provide the caregiver with mental and physical resources to aid in his or her capacity to deal with stress and make life easier for the patients being cared for. Hospital should encourage caregivers to seek social support from family, friends, and community
Description
A Dissertation Submitted to the College Of Humanities and Social Science as a Procedural Requirement for the Award of Masters in Social Work and Social Administration of Kampala International University
Keywords
Social Support, Stress, Coping Styles, Caregivers, Children, Sickle Cell Disease, Uganda