SOCIAL DISTRESS AMONG STUDENTS OF ENUGU STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION: INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES

Abstract

The present study explored the predictive role of psychological abuse and demographic variables on social distress among students in Enugu State College of Education (Technical). Two hundred and sixty (261) students with age ranging from 17 to 31 years, mean of 22.59 years and SD of 3.19 were surveyed. The participants comprise of 106 (40.6%) males and 155 (59.4%) females. Two standardized measures such as Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS) and NorVold Abuse Questionnaire were utilized. To arrive at an objective finding, two hypotheses were tested using independent subject t-test and multiple regressions. Results indicated that students with high level of psychological abuse reported more social distress that students with low level of psychological distress [t (259) = 7.49, P <0.05). However, age, gender and level of study jointly predicted social distress F (3, 257) = 2.04; p<0.05. In line with the findings, implications revolved around the need for educationists to get it right by preventing or managing social distress among students by making conscious efforts to ensure that all things required are put in place to guard against the development of psychological abuse while the study recommended that university counsellors can help distressed students to enhance their social functioning through basic life skills training.