Benue State University, Makurdi

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AND CONTROLS

Leonard C. Orji Gboyega E. Abikoye
(Department of Psychology, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria +2347062663826, uchoaondoaver@yahoo.com)

Abstract

Since 2000, more than 250,000 people who used to reside in the border communities between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states have been displaced and now reside in Central Calabar, with the possibility of many presenting with mental health challenges due to trauma experienced during the communal conflicts and the sudden relocation to an unfamiliar territory. The mental health status of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) in most settings in Nigeria, especially the IDP Camp in Calabar, has not been empirically documented, making psychological ameliorative intervention impossible. Using a standardized battery of tests, this study assessed the gender differences in the mental health status 100 IDPs and 100 Controls from the Ikot Offiong resettlement camp in Cross River state. Using t- independent analysis, results indicated that the IDPs had significantly lower scores than the Controls on Somatisation, Interpersonal sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety, Hostility, Phobic Anxiety, Paranoid Ideation, Psychoticism, Neuroticism, and Denial of problems. Female IDPs differed significantly from male IDPs in only Death Anxiety, while the female Controls had significantly higher scores than female IDPs in 10 domains of mental health but male IDPs significantly deferred from male Controls in 4 domains. The discussions of the results centered around possible use of the denial defense mechanism which accounted for the IDPs having relatively lower scores on Denial than non IDPs. The study emphasized the need for individual/group psychotherapy to ameliorate the mental health of the IDPS.

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