EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AS A PREDICTOR OF DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS ATTENDING SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to exploratory study of social support as a predictor of depression among adolescents attending secondary schools in delta state. The study was guided by three research questions and three tested hypotheses. The research design for the study was correlational. The sample size for the study was 1,000 senior secondary school adolescents. The study used the multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for this study was a Social Support and Depression Rating Questionnaire. The content validity of the instrument was assessed. The social support and depression were found to have explained variance of 69.44% with 30.54% unexplained variance and depression had an explained variance of 64.73%, with 35.27% unexplained variance. The data from the trial testing of the instrument which was subjected to a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient, indicates that social support and depression questionnaire had a reliability coefficient of 0.77 and 0.81 respectively. The researcher administered the questionnaire personally with the help of five research assistants. The research assistants were trained on the objectives of the study and how to go about the exercise. The research questions were answered with the aid of Pearson’s coefficient of determination. Hypotheses two was tested with regression statistics while hypotheses two and three were tested with Fisher’s Z statistics. The finding indicates that the correction between the levels of social support and the presence of depression among adolescents attending secondary schools in Delta State; the moderating impact of sex on the relationship between social support and depression among adolescents in secondary schools in Delta State is not statistically significant; the moderating impact of location on the relationship between social support and depression among adolescents in secondary schools in Delta State is not statistically significant. Based on this finding it was concluded that though social support is generally recognized as a protective factor for mental health, its contribution in reducing the of depression among adolescents is not significant. Therefore, recommended that a more comprehensive approach to addressing adolescent mental health should be adopted, focusing on a range of factors other than social supports that contribute to depression.