COPING STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AMONG NIGERIAN SOLDIERS
1Ogbole A James, 2Aboh Uche James& 3Mgbenkemdi Ejike. H
Department of Psychology
Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani Enugu
Headquarters Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, Maiduguri
ABSTRACT
The study investigated coping styles as predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder among Nigerian soldiers. The study was carried out among Nigerian military personnel deployed in the North-eastern part of Nigeria fighting insurgency. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 242 participants with combat experience. Demographic information revealed that 231 (95.5%) are males, 11(4.5%) are females. Analysis of participants’ rank revealed that 215(88.8%) were private and 27 (11.2%) were commissioned, officers. The participants were administered two sets of instruments based on survey design; a 17-item Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military (PCL-M) (Weathers, Huska, & Keane, 1991); and 30-item Personal Functioning Inventory (Kohn, Brien-wood, Pickering &Decicco, 2003; Umeh, 2004); Descriptive statistics were used to present the socio-demographic factors of participants while hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis in relation to coping styles as predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Nigerian soldiers. The results showed that the coping style was a significant predictor of PTSD among the soldiers (β = -.384, P <.05). The findings were discussed in relation to literature reviewed and it was suggested that the Nigerian military authorities should effectively engage the services of mental health professionals such as the Psychologist to help in ensuring the mental state of soldiers fighting an insurgency. The researcher concluded that individuals with negative coping strategies such as emotional-focused coping styles are more likely to experience PTSD.
Key words: Coping Styles, Posttraumatic stress disorder, Nigerian Soldiers
