Influence of Selected Stress Coping Strategies on the Psychological Wellbeing of Girls in Early Marriages in Silale Ward, Tiaty Sub-County, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

High prevalence (27%) of early marriage of girls below 18 years have been recorded in Tiaty Sub- County over the years. This affects the girls’ psychological wellbeing since they often experience challenges such as chronic stress, depression, trauma, social phobia and anxiety disorders. This study investigated the influence of selected stress-coping strategies on the psychological wellbeing of girls in early marriages in Tiaty Sub-County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Transactional Theory of Stress and adopted the descriptive research design. The target population was 1025 girls in early marriages aged between 13 years and 17 years in Tiaty, while accessible population was 530 girls in early marriages who were registered in educational or rehabilitation programs in Silale Ward. Purposive and snow-ball sampling techniques were used to select 106 girls in early marriages and 10 key informants, who comprised of 3 primary school head teachers, 3 secondary school principals, 1 village elder, 1 chief, and 2 directors of rescue centers. A girls in marriage questionnaire and key informants interview guide were used to collect data. Content and face validity of these two instruments were checked through expert judgement. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using the Cronbach Alpha method. The questionnaire was deemed reliable as it yielded a coefficient of 0.744. Quantitative data gathered using questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 while qualitative data from the interviews was analysed with the aid of NVivo software version 12. Qualitative data was analysed thematically which hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), simple and multiple linear regression. The findings showed that both physiological (t = 8.377, p = .000) and psychological (t = 14.365, p = .000) coping strategies were significant predictors of the wellbeing of girls in early marriages. The study concluded that the selected coping strategies influenced girls’ psychological wellbeing. The study recommends that family members and husbands of girls in early marriages should employ physiological stress coping strategies such as recreational activities like games, provide enough food, promote good health among others to boost their psychological wellbeing. It is also recommended that managers of rescue centres and schools for girls in early marriages should offer psychological stress coping strategies such as professional guidance and counselling services, with a view of encouraging them not to give up but have hope that they will excel in life.