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Stress, anxiety and depression levels of parents of children in EIPIC centres and preschools
Author
Lee, Chiew Lim
Supervisor
Poon, Kenneth K.
Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the differences between the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress reported by parents with children in EIPIC and parents with children in preschools. Besides that, this study also sought to understand how background variables of parents, specifically age and educational level, affected the level of reported depression, anxiety and stress symptoms by the parents. In addition, this study would deepen the understanding of how age and educational levels of parents could influence the differences in the reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress between parents with children in EIPIC and parents with children in preschools.
Samples for the study was based on the data collected from 285 parents with children in EIPIC and 566 parents with children in preschools in this study. The response rate for the current sample of parents with children in preschools was 14.3%. 23.4% of the returned responses were excluded because of incomplete information or irrelevant responses. The ages and educational levels of the parents were collected using the background questionnaire while the level of reported depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were collected using the DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004).
Significant differences were found between the reported depression and stress symptoms of parents with children in EIPIC and parents with children in preschools. These findings concurred with the current literature that parents with children in EIPIC reported significantly higher levels of depression and stress symptoms as compared to parents with children in preschools. Furthermore, reported levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were also found to be significantly different among parents of different educational levels using one-way ANOVA. Post-hoc analysis revealed that parents with higher educational levels reported lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. However, no significant difference was found among parents of different age groups. No interaction effect was also found in the factorial ANOVA. Implications for policy and practice and directions for future studies were discussed. Participants from the Experimental group who attended group counselling showed that they were able to manage stress effectively and found the group counselling to be indeed effective and positive. Students also found that pre group counselling have prepared them psychologically before clinical attachment and post group counselling had been an avenue to ventilate and cope without going into burnout stage. Therefore, the group counselling introduced for the first year student nurses had been very significant in helping to reduce stress before clinical attachment and after clinical attachment. Results indicated that experimental group student nurses were able to maintain the stress level while the control group had a significant increase in the stress level over the 2-week period of clinical training. Additionally, students in the experimental group receiving group counselling were less anxious and less stressful at post counselling. Students in the control group who did not receive the pre and post counselling experience showed higher level of stress than the control group. The conclusion is that group counselling as an intervention can reduce stress level for nursing students if administered routinely before and after clinical attachment.
Samples for the study was based on the data collected from 285 parents with children in EIPIC and 566 parents with children in preschools in this study. The response rate for the current sample of parents with children in preschools was 14.3%. 23.4% of the returned responses were excluded because of incomplete information or irrelevant responses. The ages and educational levels of the parents were collected using the background questionnaire while the level of reported depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were collected using the DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004).
Significant differences were found between the reported depression and stress symptoms of parents with children in EIPIC and parents with children in preschools. These findings concurred with the current literature that parents with children in EIPIC reported significantly higher levels of depression and stress symptoms as compared to parents with children in preschools. Furthermore, reported levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were also found to be significantly different among parents of different educational levels using one-way ANOVA. Post-hoc analysis revealed that parents with higher educational levels reported lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. However, no significant difference was found among parents of different age groups. No interaction effect was also found in the factorial ANOVA. Implications for policy and practice and directions for future studies were discussed. Participants from the Experimental group who attended group counselling showed that they were able to manage stress effectively and found the group counselling to be indeed effective and positive. Students also found that pre group counselling have prepared them psychologically before clinical attachment and post group counselling had been an avenue to ventilate and cope without going into burnout stage. Therefore, the group counselling introduced for the first year student nurses had been very significant in helping to reduce stress before clinical attachment and after clinical attachment. Results indicated that experimental group student nurses were able to maintain the stress level while the control group had a significant increase in the stress level over the 2-week period of clinical training. Additionally, students in the experimental group receiving group counselling were less anxious and less stressful at post counselling. Students in the control group who did not receive the pre and post counselling experience showed higher level of stress than the control group. The conclusion is that group counselling as an intervention can reduce stress level for nursing students if administered routinely before and after clinical attachment.
Date Issued
2015
Call Number
HQ759.913 Lee
Date Submitted
2015