Influence of Age, Autonomy and Perceived Social Support on Psychological Distress among Students of Institutes for Special Needs

Abstract

Evidence from past literature revealed that individuals with special needs have been neglected by parents, government and well-meaning authorities in Nigeria while numerous studies have shown that individuals with disability are facing a lot of psychosocial problems. This study examined the influence of age, perceived social support and autonomy on psychological distress among students with disabilities. The independent variables are social support and autonomy while dependent variable is psychological distress. This study adopted a correlational research design; 147 participants were sampled using simple randomisation. A questionnaire pack containing demographic factors (age, gender, religion, tribe), Social Support Questionnaire, Index of Autonomous Functioning and Distress Tolerance Scale were administered to the participants. Person product moment correlation, regression and one-way ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between perceive social support and psychological distress (r=.190, p<.05), and between autonomy and psychological distress (r=.240, p<.01). Also, there was a joint significant prediction of perceived social support and autonomy on psychological distress [R=.476; R2=.226; F(3,252) =13.40;P<.05]. However, age [t=2.828, p<.05, β=-.218], and autonomy [t=-4.165, p<.05, β=-.333] did independently predict psychological distress. Adolescence stage had significant influence on psychological distress (F(2,144)=7.84, p.<.01); further result revealed a significant difference in the psychological distress of participants in late adolescence and early adolescence (MD=8.12; p<.01). The study recommends that parents and stakeholders should encourage autonomy among people with disabilities. However, experts should be involved in order to be able to maintain appropriate autonomy that will alleviate psychological distress among these individuals.