Psychosocial and Economic Challenges Encountered by Widows and Their Effect on Self-esteem. A Case of Githunguchu Sublocation, Gatundu Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

The death of a spouse is a stressful life event that marks a turning point in the life course often involving transitions and adaptations in social roles for the surviving partner. Widowhood is associated with increased financial strain, the assumption of new tasks in household management and changes in social relationships, all of which may exerbate or mitigate psychological distress. Widowhood impacts multiple life domains which may moderate short and long term effects on the psychological wellbeing of the bereaved. The study examined the psychosocial and economic challenges encountered by widows and their effect on selfesteem in Githunguchu Sub-location location, Gatundu Sub County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to assess and identify psychosocial and economic challenges encountered by widows in relation to the effects of psychosocial and economic challenges on widows‟ self-esteem. Mixed methods design were used by combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. Primary data for the study was collected using questionnaires, oral interviews and focus group discussions and analyzed using SPSS and Nvivo software. The sample size was 27 individuals. The study revealed a strong positive correlation between psychosocial and economic problems (r=.515, p<.01, N=107), with a relatively high composite score being obtained for economic challenges on a 5- point scale (M=3.52, SD=0.53) and a similar score being obtained for psychosocial challenges (M=3.53, SD=0.66). The study established that there was a weak positive and statistically significant relationship between psychosocial and economic challenges on the widows self-esteem (r=.267, p<.01). Comparatively, self-esteem recorded a lower general score on a scale of 1 to 5 (M=3.18, SD=0.85). Results showed that the correlation between psychosocial challenges and their effect on self-esteem (r=.319, p<.01) was stronger than the correlation between economic challenges and its effect on self-esteem (r=.267, p<.01). The study revealed that most challenges faced by widows were financial, stress, and other social factors. Therefore, widows need to be sensitized to seek psychological services in order to cope with their low self-esteem especially after the loss of their spouses