MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES IN PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: THE IMPACT OF GENDER ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS

Abstract

Individuals with disabilities experience poorer mental health outcomes in comparison to their non-disabled counterparts; however, the degree to which disability impacts mental health remains ambiguous. This study employs this dataset to evaluate the correlation between disability and the diagnoses of depression and anxiety, in addition to assessing stress among adult populations. We measured the occurrence of mental health issues among 185 respondents. Chi square analysis estimated the odds of mental health diagnoses among physically disabled and not physically disabled samples. Gender differences were measured using the T test and for relationship among variables, Pearson Coefficient of correlation was used. Physically disabled people have significantly more probabilities of depression, anxiety and stress than nonphysically disabled people, χ 2 (4) = 46.86, p = .000, χ 2 (4) = 76.82, p = .000 χ 2 (4) = 16.79, p = .000 respectively. There are significant means differences for males (M = 15.12, M = 15.96, and M = 13.46) and females (M = 21.12, M = 22.05, and M = 20.42) on depression, anxiety and stress scales respectively. Results show significant correlation among anxiety and depression (r = .86, p = .000), stress and depression (r = .92, p = .000) and between stress and anxiety (r = .89, p = .000). Results support that physically disabled people have lower mental health than nonphysically disabled people