EXPLORING THE PSYCHOSOCIAL CAUSES OF SUICIDE IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

The global rate of suicide is alarming, and the prevalence in Africa, especially  Nigeria, is more worrisome. The causes of suicide have been evaluated from a different perspective; however, studies on the psychosocial dimension in Africa are limited. With the increasing rate of Suicide in Nigeria and the literature gap in the psychosocial dimensions, this study explored the psychosocial causes of Suicide in Nigeria through a qualitative approach. The southwestern states in Nigeria were considered in this study because of the accounted high rate of suicide. States such as Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti were considered in this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select key informants consisting of police officials, and religious and opinion leaders. Four themes emanate from the thematic analysis – economic challenges, frustration, mental issues and family issues were found to be psychosocial antecedents of suicide in Nigeria. Promotion of psychic support and social cohesion has been suggested to reduce suicide

Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Health and Inflexibility among Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Caregiving may be a burden to the Psychological Health (PH) of mothers of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). However, little attention is given to psychotherapeutic intervention in managing mothers caring for such children in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) among mothers of children with CP accessing therapeutic outpatient services at Federal Psychiatric Hospital (FPH) Lagos, Nigeria. This research follows a quasi-experimental type with pre-test, post-test plans, and control group. Accordingly, 30 people were selected through volunteered sampling among mothers of children with CP accessing therapeutic outpatient services at child/adolescent unit of Federal Psychiatric Hospital. Then, they were randomly placed into two groups of 20 (experimental and control) each and evaluated using research tools. Research tools consisted of Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II) and Cerebral Palsy Psychological Health Scale (CPPHS) whose reliability and validity have been confirmed in previous studies. Research data were analysed using the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The statistical analysis confirmed the difference in the components of psychological health and acceptance level/psychological flexibility in the experimental group, which had received acceptance and commitment therapy compared to the group that had not received any therapy in this regard (control group) (p<.05). The ACT had significant effect on Psychological Health {F (1.36) =7.94} after controlling for severity of illness and parental knowledge. Participants in experimental group improved in their Psychological Health when compared with those in control group {t(38) = 3.20}. Acceptance level/ psychological flexibility of the mothers improved after intervention with a decrease in pretest mean score (= 31.60) to posttest mean score (= 24.10). Acceptance and commitment therapy improves psychological healt