Abstract

Social support refers to the various ways in which a network of individuals (parents, teachers, peers, resources) with whom one can rely on for psychological or material support to cope effectively. Psychological well-being refers to the simple notion of a child’s welfare, happiness, advantages, interest, and quality of the study.

The study investigated the effects of social support on the psychological well-being of students at the University of Buea. Specifically, it sought to investigate the role of parental support on the psychological well being of students, to examine the influence of peer acceptance on the psychological well being of students, to determine the role of teacher’s support on the psychological well being of students, and to analyze the impact of the availability of learning resources has on students.

The study was guided by the Human Ecological theory by Bronfenbrenner (1979), the Constructivism theory of Lev Vygotsky (1978), and the Attribution theory by Weiner (1974). The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Data was collected purposively, with the use of a questionnaire, from a sample population of 60 students from the University of Buea.

Data were descriptively analyzed from the questionnaire by calculating frequencies and percentages. Findings revealed that parental support, peer acceptance, teacher support, and the availability of learning resources have a great role in the psychological well-being of students at the University of Buea.

The study recommends the need of provision of a socially supportive environment to adolescents in the home and school settings which helps to develop positive regard for themselves in the form of high self-esteem.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Social support from family, teacher, peers, environment, has been seen as a protective factor for students. Studies have shown the increased risk of adolescent problems in the absence of or decreased level of parental supports, and the effects of parental support on student stress (Quomma and Greenberg, 1994).

Research has shown that social support plays an important role in managing psychological problems. Lack of social support has been found to be one of the factors that lead to many psychological problems among students.

Thus, this study attempts to understand the effects of social support such as parental support, peer acceptance, availability of learning resources, teacher’s involvement has on student’s psychological wellbeing. This chapter consisted of the Background of the study, Statement of the problem, purpose, objectives f the study, research questions, significance, scope, and operational definition of terms.

Background to the Study

Social support refers to the experience of being valued, respected, cared about, and loved by others who are present in one’s life (Gurung, 2006). It may come from different sources such as family, friends, teachers, community, or any social groups to which one is affiliated. Social support is an element that can help individuals to reduce the amount of stress experienced as well as help individuals cope better in dealing with stressful situations. A study by Nahid and Sarkis (1994) for example found that social support protects people in life crises such as bereavement, illness, and other major stress, and moderates the effect of stressors on psychological wellbeing.

Social support is a broad construct, comprising both the social structure of an individual’s life and the specific functions served by various interpersonal relationships. Structural aspects of support are often measured by assessing social integration, indicating the extent to which an individual is a part of social networks.

Researchers usually divide functional support into two domains; perceived support, or people’s subjective construal of the support they believe to be available to them, and received support, which is aid rendered by other persons. Perceived and received support take several forms. Informational support involves the provision of recommendations, advice, and other helpful information.

Tangible or instrumental support is the furnishing of financial, material, or physical assistance, such as the provision of money. Emotional support involves the expression of affection, empathy, caring. Belonging support creates a sense of belonging and can involve the presence or availability of others for social engagement. The different facets of social support often have distinct implications for psychological wellbeing and physical health.

Research has shown that social support plays an important role in managing psychological problems. Support from family and friends has been found to reduce the impact of psychological problems among students (Calvete and Connor-Smith, 2006). Villanova and Bownas (1984) for example found that social support could help students to cope with everyday life stressors and lighten the burden of academic workload.

Without enough support from family and friends, they would be in trouble and are vulnerable to depression, stress and anxiety. Dollete et al. (2004) found that social support could act as a protective factor that could decrease psychological problems among students such as stress. A study by Wentzel (1998) found that social support provides motivational influence on students’ performance. This study is supported by the findings of Quomma and Greenberg (1994) who found that less social support from these sources would lead to failure.

Conceptually, social support has been shown to promote mental health and acts as a buffer against stressful life events (Dollete and Phillips,2004). Social support is derived from a network of people drawn from family, friends, and community (Awang, Kutty, and Ahmad,2014; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, and Farley,1988). A lack of social support is a determinant of mental health problems including depressive symptoms among university students (Bukhari and Afzal,2017;safree and Dzulkifli, 2010), and has a negative impact on the quality of life for students (Dafaalla et al..,2016). Research evidence indicates a significant negative relationship between social support and psychological disorders including depression and stress (Alimoradi, Asadi, Asabeigy, and Asadniya,2014; Bukhari and Afzal, 2017; Kugbey, 2015).

Consistent findings from these cross-sectional studies revealed the important role of social support on students’ wellbeing. A study of 115 university students found students who had higher social support had lower rate of stress and were well adjusted to university (Friedlander , Reid, Shupak, and Cribbie , 2007).Likewise , it was found that the impact of academic stress defined as frustrations , conflicts , pressures, changes and self-imposition on psychological wellbeing depends on the level of perceived social support from friends (Glozah, 2013),A study found that social support from family and friends has a substantial impact on the emotional, social and academic performance of university students (Awang et al., 2014).However, in this developmental stage of adolescence, friends are increasingly more important as a source of social support compared to family (Kugbey, 2015), as the emphasis shifts from parents to that of peers as the child seeks to individuate from family. This is supported by a study showing social support from friends is a significant predictor of depression in university students (Worfel, Gusy, Lohmann , Topritz , and Kleiber, 2016).

Two systematic reviews on the relationships between social support, depression, and wellbeing including various age groups with a mean age of 20years showed the crucial role of social support as a predictor of young people’s mental health but did not investigate the quality of life (Chu, Saucier, and Hafner, 2010; Rueger, Malecki, Pyun, Aycock and Coyle, 2016), thus there is a need for further studies to explore such associations. There is extensive research on the impact of social support on depression in the adult and general population. However, the university population has specific issues and represents a unique stage of developmental transition including newfound independence and social relationships (Robotham, 2008).

Therefore, determining specific sources of social support that protect mental health and quality of life is essential for the emotional, social, and academic adjustment of university students. Previous research on social support among university students has not examined the impact of sources of social support on both depressive symptoms and quality of life and has focused on outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and psychological distress (Alimoradi et al., 2014; Hamdan~Mansour & Dawani, 2008).

There is some evidence for the impact of social support on depressive symptoms and quality of life in university students these samples were restricted to medical students and thus may not be representative of the student population (Dafaalla et al., 2016).

Contextually, social support is frequently used in much socio~psychological and socio~educational research that emphasizes the importance of social relationships among community members (Peters , 2010; Topping and Foggie , 2010;Yaeda , 2010 , Demaray et al ., 2010. Awang , 2012 ). It includes inter~personal and inter~groups interactions. Social support is one of the focuses in transitional studies in these days. Jindal~snape (2010) highlights the importance of social support in educational transition for promoting wellbeing and a smooth transition among students across ages, cultural identities and educational levels. Demarray (2005) conceptualizes * social support * as “transpiring from multiple sources ( Parents, Teachers, Close friends, Classmates, and School) and consisting of multiple types (Emotional, Informational, Appraisal, and Instrumental), which may serve to improve a student’s adjustments and outcomes (p.691)”.

However, the concept of social support is considerably vague and requires further investigation. It can be divided into three categories namely perceived social support, enacted social support, and social integration. Perceived social support refers to the subjective judgment of the assistant quality provided by family members and close friends; perceived social support stresses a person’s action; while enacted support stresses specific supportive actions. Although there is a close link among all three types of social support, the supportive orientations are different.

On the other hand, social integration is more likely to focus on social relations and kinship instead of social action and social interactions. By taking these elements into consideration the current study uses the term of supportive social support that refers to assistance provided by society, community, peers, and family members.

Extensive past studies suggested that there was a strong association between perceived social support and student wellbeing. For instance, Asante (2011) found that social support reduces stress levels and depression among youth with challenging behaviour. Ethnicity, living arrangements, working status, educational level, and household incomes were found to be significant factors for promoting student wellbeing.

This indicates that a contextual-based investigation of social support and student wellbeing is vital. Indeed, there has been an accumulation of evidence to suggest a strong association between social life and human wellbeing (Demaray et al., 2005). Student wellbeing has diverse dimensions including academic attainment, happiness, and enjoyment, ability to adapt with campus life, and social life in-and-out – of university compound(Awang, 2014).

Theoretically, Vygotsky (1978) in his theory of social constructivism believes that learning and development is a collaborative activity and that children are cognitively developed in the context of socialisation and education. The perceptual, attention, and memory capacities of children are transformed by vital cognitive tools provided by culture, such as history, social context, traditions, language, and religion. For learning to occur, the child first contacts the social environment on an interpersonal level and then internalises this experience.

In sum, the long-term presence of a basic, trusting relationship with an adult is a big factor in the protective buffering of students from stressors and problems. This simply means that having someone you know you can count on at any time when faced with an academic challenge is very important to a student because it serves as a reinforcement factor and it also helps the student to overcome challenges in academic institutions.

Statement of the problem

Social support is a very important aspect of students’ psychological wellbeing. For instance; it improves the ability to cope with stressful situations, reduces effects of emotional distress, enhances self-esteem, and promotes good behaviors in students. This support comes from parents, teachers, peers, and even the availability of learning resources in an educational institution. Nevertheless, it has been noticed that despite the presence of this support in the University of Buea, the impacts are still not well understood by the people involved. It is for this reason that this study is out to find out the effects of social support on the psychological wellbeing of students in the University of Buea.

Objectives of the Study

Main Objectives of the Study

To find out the effects of social support on the psychological well-being of students in the University of Buea

Specific Objectives

1. To investigate the role of parental support on the psychological wellbeing of students in the University of Buea.
2. To examine the influence of peer acceptance on the psychological wellbeing of students in the University of Buea.
3. To determine the role of teachers’ support on the psychological wellbeing of students in the University of Buea.
4. To analyze the impact the availability of learning resources has on student’s psychological wellbeing.