RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL UNEASE, COPING TACTICS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED INDIVIDUALS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL UNEASE, COPING TACTICS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED INDIVIDUALS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study investigated Relationship between Emotional Anxiety, Coping Strategies and Psychological Adjustment of the Internally Displaced Persons in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study adopted correlative research design. The target population of the study was nine thousand, six hundred and thirty-five (9, 635) male and female internally displaced persons Kaduna State Nigeria. The sample of the study was360 respondents drawn from entire internally displaced persons. Data were collected using Emotional Anxiety Inventory (EAI) and Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI). The data collected were processed and analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation. All tests were done at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that there is significant relationship exist between Emotional Anxiety, Coping Strategies and Psychological Adjustment of the Internally Displaced Persons in Kaduna State with the following values: Emotion focused coping strategy and Psychological Adjustment p = 0.001, r = .939, Problem focused coping strategy and Psychological Adjustment p = 0.002, r = .940, Proactive focused coping strategy and Psychological Adjustment p = 0.011, r = .940 and Emotional Anxiety and Psychological Adjustment p = 0.012, r = .842. Based on the results of the findings it was recommended that government should employ the services of psychologist and counselors in the camp so as to help internally displaced Persons on how to cope with their emotional anxiety. 

             

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Emotional anxiety may likely have emotional implication on those who have direct personal experience, witnessing or learning about the event that involves actual or threatened death or injury.According to Bremmer (2014), emotional anxiety is something of an invisible epidemic and the events underlying it are often mysterious and always unpleasant. Symptoms of emotional anxiety matched up with a measurable loss of neurons in hippocampus, using brain imaging trauma survivors were found to have an 8% reduction in the right hippocampal volume which is associated with short term memory lossBremmer (2014)`.Emotional anxiety is associated with working memory, attention, poor concentration, hyper vigilance to threat in the environment and other cognitive defects that could adversely influence individuals’ performance on standardized tests (Rutkowski, Vasterling, Proctor &Anderson, 2013). Finding oneself in this kind of situation requires victim to source for ways to cope in the prevailing situation.

Coping means dealing with a situation. However, for a psychologist, coping is the process by which a person takes some action to manage, master, tolerate or reduce environment and internal demands that cause or might cause anxiety and what will tax the individual inner resources (Lazarus &Folkman, 2014). Coping strategies are the techniques people use to deal with anxiety. Effective coping requires that people have variety of strategies and make appropriate choices about when to use them. No single strategy is bad or good, but some strategies tend to be more effective than others. For example, some coping strategies involve actively dealing with the anxieties, whereas others strategies are more passive. Passive coping strategies include refusing to accept the reality of the problem, trying to ignore the problem, avoiding the situation, engaging in distraction activities, or sleeping more than usual.

Internal displacement is a common consequence of Nigerian inter-communal and political violence, flooding and forced evictions (IDMC, 2013). In other words, internal displacement of persons could be triggered by natural disasters or human-induced conflict which leads to violent clashes. Irrespective of the cause of the displacement, the phenomenon always leaves negative socioeconomic footprints on millions of people worldwide. A serious source of concern however lies with internal displacement of persons arising from humaninduced violent clashes and conflicts in recent times. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) arising from violent clashes are victims of various kind of injustices or violence confrontations, perpetrated against them by their own government or agents of communal clashes, riots, terrorism, natural disasters, religious conflicts, among others (Hamzat, 2013).

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) accounted that in 1982, only1.2 million people were IDPs in 11 countries; however, by 2015, there were 20 to 25 million in more than 40 countries, almost twice as many as refugees. At the end of 2015, there were 26 million people worldwide who had been internally displaced by conflict, general violence or violations of human rights. This figure rose to 27.1 million at the end of 2013 and 27.5 million at the end of 2013. (1DMC, 2013, 2014, 2015). The estimated figure at the end of 2015 was 28.8 million indicating that additional 6.5 million people were newly displaced, nearly twice as many as the 3.5 million during 2015 (IDMC, 2013). IDPs suffer emotional problems which are characterized by memory of fearful events and nightmare (Durosaro&Ajiboye, 2015), loss of livelihoods, frustrations, abuses, threats of assaults etc. (Mazo, 2015). The misery of displaced persons has in recent years become a formidable problem of global significance and implications (Ladan, 2013). The causal factors of internally displacement of persons in Nigeria has been linked to many unfortunate developments over unfounded arguments on religious beliefs, under-development, poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, ethnic tensions, unemployment, political and economic subjugation of minorities, absence of democratic procedures, intolerance, and many other factors. The grave consequence of this has impacted nearly every facet of national development.

Displaced persons under international law are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obligated to flee or to have caused to leave their homes or place of habitual residence in particular, violations of human rights, situations of generalized violence, natural or man- made disasters, to another place considered relatively safe either within their own national borders (as internally displaced persons) or travel across an internationally recognized state border as refugees (Ladan, 2016). Internally Displaced Persons are mostly victims of the brutality of man against man, various kind of injustices or violence confrontations, perpetrated either by their own government against them or by others.Ladan (2016) described IDPs as persons or groups of persons who because of armed conflict, systematic violations of human rights, internal strife, or natural or man-made disasters have been forced to flee their homes or places of habitual residence suddenly or unexpectedly, to another location but have not crossed an internationally recognized state border and this have been a cause of psychological imbalance among the IDPs. With these incidents, the victims tend to try to psychologically adjust to the situations where they find themselves.

Psychological adjustment refers to the behavioral process of balancing conflicting needs, or needs against obstacles in the environment. Humans regularly do this, for example, when they are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food, they eat (if possible) to reduce their hunger and thus adjust to the hunger stimulus. Adjustment disorder occurs when there is an inability to make a normal adjustment to some need or stress in the environment. Adjustment is the process by which a person maintains a balance between its needs and the circumstance that influence the satisfaction of these needs (Shaffer, 2016). Adjustment refers to any operation whereby an organism or organ becomes more favourably related to the environment or to the entire situation, environment and internal forces (Warren, 1934). Adjustment refers to active creative efforts to live effectively. This requires gaining skills through interaction with one’s world acquiring a degree of control over one’s daily life successfully meeting life’s challenge and self-understanding and the ability to make accurate judgment about people and place (Newman & Newman 2013). Psychologicaldisorders may be extremely common among IDPS because is characterized by the development of emotional and/or behavioral symptoms (such as, depression, anxiety, terrorism, communal clashes, religious conflicts, riots, and natural disasters) in response to a specific stressor or stressors within their environment.

It is against this background the researcher is examined the relationship between emotional anxiety and coping strategies among internally displaced persons in Kaduna State.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The intensity of internal displacement arising from violence, conflict and its consequences on the population over past years has turned the attention of both local and international agencies where human activities are usually paralyzed because of involuntary temporary relocation in Kaduna State. The IDPs are exposed to emotional anxiety, problem of copying, absent of health or medical facilities, rapes, or sexual abuse, lack of food, and water as well as unnatural death of families and friends which constitute high level of emotional anxiety on the victimsBremmer (2014).

In the process of displacement, rural household abandon asset and lands and arrive at urban area where their agriculture, business skills are of no use. As a consequence, unemployment rate, labour, income and aggregate consumption fall considerably and IDPs are obliged to adopt coping strategies to satisfy minimum level of emotional anxiety that jeopardize future of the displaced individual. IDPs are not able to recover their asset base and income has been distorted years after the episode of displacement suggesting that the negative consequence of displacement persist with time. Violence and displacement also brings about considerably emotional distress and mental trauma. High level of anxiety and depression especially among those with high degree of victimization, have been observed across different sub groups of the displaced population in Kaduna State most especially in the southern part of the state. Therefore, emotional anxiety or distress are disturbing and may have effect on adjustment and they even affect the individual mental health. Fear, depression, anxiety cause emotional exhaustion, and overwhelm the ability to cope, but mayalso affect social function andmay hinder the ability to perform, adjust or cope with different emotional anxieties.It is on this note that the researcher investigated the Relationship between Emotional Anxiety, Coping Strategies and Psychological Adjustment of the Internally Displaced Persons in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

1.3       Objectives of the study

For the purpose of this study, the following objectives are stated:

1. To determine the relationship between emotion-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
2. To determine the relationship between problem-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
3. To determine the relationship between proactive coping and psychological adjustmentof IDPs in Kaduna State
4. To determine the relationship between emotional anxiety and psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna State
5. To determine the differences in level of psychological adjustment among IDPs in

Kaduna State and their academic qualifications.

1.4        Research Questions

Based on the stated objectives, the following research questionswere raised:

1. What is the relationship between emotion-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
2. What is the relationship between problem-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
3. What is the relationship between proactive coping and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State
4. What is the relationship between emotional anxiety and psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna State
5. What is the differences in level of psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna

State and their academic qualifications.

 

 

1.5        Hypotheses

This study has the following hypotheses:

1. There is no significant relationship between emotion-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
2. There is no significant relationship between problem-focused coping strategy and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State.
3. There is no significant relationship between proactive coping and psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State
4. There is no significant relationship between emotional anxiety and psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna State
5. There is no significant differences in level of psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna State and their academic qualifications.

1.6        Basic Assumptions

The study is based on the following basic assumptions: it is assumed that

1. Emotion-focused coping strategy has relationship with psychological adjustment of

IDPs in Kaduna State.

2. Problem-focused coping strategy has relationship with psychological adjustment of

IDPs in Kaduna State.

3. Proactive coping has relationship with psychological adjustment of IDPs in Kaduna State
4. Emotional anxiety has relationship with psychological adjustment among IDPs in

Kaduna State

5. There are differences in the level of psychological adjustment among IDPs in Kaduna

State and their academic qualifications.

1.7       Significance of the study

This study is of significant importance in enhancing and improving quality of education in Kaduna State.Specifically, the study would be of great significance to policy makers, school administrators, school psychologists, counsellors, parents, Traditional rulers, student and all stakeholder of Kaduna State Government as they strive to raise the standard of education in the country.To policy makers and school administrators, the study will provide them with empirically based data that would assist them make decisions so as to enhance the living conditions of the internally displaced persons in Kaduna state.

To educational psychologists and counsellors, the result of this study will provide them with information about the state of mind of the IDPs with a view to devising means of helping them adjust to life. Traditional rulers, parents and members of the public and other stakeholders would benefit from this study in the sense that it opens up the situation of the

IDPs thereby calling for urgent intervention to their lives.

To achieve the above significance of the study, the finding of this research will be published in journals, columns in newspapers and other academic periodicals. The organization of workshop and seminars will equally broaden the coverage of benefiting the society standard, to gain from this research.

However, conducting a research of this nature has always been to ultimately determine the extent to which society is being able to socially adjust to new standard and value that has impacted on the quality of individuals’ life. It is in the light of this the researcher wishes to state strongly that the findings will be of immense importance and value to psychologists and counsellor as it will provide a blueprint for government policies toward developing the needed coping strategies for emotional anxiety,psychological adjustment and socially maladjusted individuals among the IDPs in Kaduna State.

1.8       Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The scope of the study is delimited to Emotional Anxiety, Coping Strategies and Psychological Adjustment of the Internally Displaced Persons in Kaduna State, Nigeria.The study was delimited to the thirteen northern states in Nigeria. The study did not include other states in Nigeria. Male and females IDPs were the target populationof the study. The area covered by the study is only IDPs in Kaduna StateIDPs.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL UNEASE, COPING TACTICS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED INDIVIDUALS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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