CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Social adjustment of students is an issue of great concern to many, especially parents, teachers, counselors and psychologists. This is based on the notion that the students social dimension deals with interpersonal or public interactions with other individuals. Hence, the students, especially those in the university are faced with social problems with attendant academic problems that seem to have become part and parcel of the schools. The condition were student are unable to adjust socially in school has become a worrisome phenomenon because of its tendency to affect their academic outputs and the likelihood that they may resort to anti-social behaviors like drug use and abuse, robbery, alcoholism, rape among others as a coping mechanism.

Today, many of the students at the secondary school level in Nigeria are perceived as being predisposed to many such social problems such as drug use and abuse, drop out, alcoholism, among others, coupled with their normal academic problems that seem to have become part and parcel of a school process. The reason as Akpama (2013) noted could be traced to the idea that these students are many a time faced with problems such as  the change in education system, living style, less parenting guide, change in environment, lack of proper home training, lack of love and care. These problems render the students, emotionally and imbalanced, thereby pushing them into further problems like drug abuse, prostitution and other unwholesome behaviors which tend to affect the likelihood of their being adjusted in the society.

The adjustment for students could mean getting along with the members of the school as best as each student can. Adjustment according to Nirmala (2011) is a harmony between a person and his environment, and the extent to which a person fits happily and harmoniously into the environment or culture in which he or she finds self without having friction with others and without being frustrated. According to Azuji (2014), it is the process and condition of being in harmony with the physical and social environment in which the individual live, which is signified by the near absence of stress and the ability to maintain good personal relationship with others. Within the school settings, students are constantly faced with new challenges which include ever changing peer groups and different educational and behavioral expectations of different schools. These challenges according to the researcher, have been recognized as having some bearing on the way students adjust in schools socially. This is probably because the ability of students to cope with certain standards, values, and norms of a community (home, school, and church) hinges on their ability to socially adjust in every given situation. Social adjustment from the foregoing could be seen as the extent to which an individual maintains a cordial relationship with other people. For example, a socially imbalanced, thereby pushing them into further problems like drug abuse, prostitution and other unwholesome behaviors which tend to affect the likelihood of their being adjusted in the society.

As a consequence, achieving such a happy and harmonious life in the society may become a challenge. Nevertheless, the successful handling of such challenges in the society could lead to good social adjustment, while improper handling of such challenges could equally lead to social maladjustment of individuals. For example, a student adjusts to his or her social environment comprising of the peer group, the teachers, and other members of the community in which the individual lives.

Based on the above, this study investigated the relationship between coping mechanisms and social adjustment of students in the University of Bamenda. In this light, coping mechanisms was operationalised and specific indicators of coping mechanisms such as; problem-focused coping mechanism, emotion-focused coping mechanism, meaning-focused coping mechanism and social coping (support-seeking) coping mechanism were examined in relation to social adjustment of students in the University of Bamenda.

In this regard, chapter one of this study presents the background to the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study and operational definition of terms. Chapter two exposes the reader to review of related literature, chapter three shows the methodology adopted for the study, chapter four presents the findings and chapter five presents the discussion of findings, contributions of the study, conclusion, recommendations of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.

Background to the study

Social adjustment involves coping with new standards and values. In technical application, adjustment or social adjustment means getting along with members of the society as best as one can. In this regard, social adjustment means reaction to the demand and pressure of the social environment. From the development view social adjustment must represent the whole gamut of change by which an entire social system turned to that diverse basic need and desires of individual and social groups within that system. Move away from a condition of life building perceived as unsatisfactory toward a situation (Rothbart M.K. 2006).

Adjustment in this context is generally divided into social and personal spheres of relation. In a social context, a person might be judged as poorly adjusted when compared to some cultural norms, values judgment are often made by reference to behavior in one of several major roles areas such as work, school, leisure, or family activities. Social adjustment include how the person interacts with others or how the person confirms to social expectations (Davidson and Jackson 2000 ). The emotional aspect of adjustment can be determined by asking the person about his feeling, attitudes, cognitive and behavioral characteristics; only the individual can subjectively asses the degree of adjustment and satisfaction experienced (Eisenberg &Spirad 2009).

Students can use several coping mechanisms to deal with the stress and anxiety that come .students  tend to cope with stress and anxiety in one of the ways. Problem-focused coping refers to efforts to alter the stressful situation itself. For instance, the stress and anxiety of an upcoming test can be minimized by studying for the test, thus eliminating the stress-inducing power of the test. Emotion-focused coping refers to efforts to reduce one’s response to the stressful situation. In this case, the stress of an upcoming test can be reduced by imagining all the positives that will come from successfully completing the test – thus, the meaning of the test is reframed from a negative one to a positive one. Finally, there is avoidance-oriented coping, in which the stressor is avoided altogether. Thus, the stress of an upcoming test can be avoided by doing something that takes attention away from the test, such as going out with friends or watching television instead of studying.

Coping mechanism and social adjustment are important factors that contribute to the resilience of students in school. Resilience refers to the ability of individuals to adopt and cope with stress and adversity, and it plays a critical role in academic achievement and overall well-being.

Research has shown that students who have effective coping mechanisms and strong social adjustment skills are more likely to be resilient in the face of academic , personal, and social challenges. These skills can help students to manage stress and anxiety, maintain a positive outlook, and stay motivated and engaged in their academic pursuits

The implications of resilience among students in school are significant. Resilient students are more likely to achieve academic success, develop positive relationships with peers and teachers, and maintain good mental and physical health. They are also likely to be successful in their future  careers and personal lives.

Conceptually, according to Algorani& Gupta, (2021) coping mechanism are cognitive and behavioral approaches that we use to manage internal and external stressors. Coping mechanism are the patterns and behavior we fall back on to try to deal with unusually stressful situations. This are strategies people often use in the face of stress or trauma to help manage painful or difficult emotions also significant life event, whether positive or negative, can cause psychological stress. Difficult events such as divorce, miscarriage, the death of a loved one, or distress. Coping mechanism can be broadly categorized as active or avoidant. Active coping mechanisms usually involve an awareness of the stressor and conscious attempts to reduce stress

According to Crick and Dodge, 1994, he defined social adjustment as the degree to which an individual engages in competent social behavior and adapts to the immediate social context.it has been recognized that social adjustment is influenced by psychological factors, among them self-esteem have shown that the way in which individuals perceive themselves influence on their social academic and emotional adjustment .students must adapt to others outside the family environment to achieve the goals adult socialization patterns, adolescent must make new adjustments. The development of social life during university is influenced by one important aspect, namely social adjustment. Students who are able to make social adjustment during high school will succeed in making social adjustment well. Gerungan suggest that the factors that influence social adjustment are as follows the role of the family which includes socio-economic status, family needs, attitudes, and habits of parents, as well as the status of the child. Second, the role of the school includes structural and organizational schools, as well as the teachers in teaching and learning activities, the third the role of the work environment.

Furthermore, Lazarus and Folkman 1984 define problem focused coping as all the active effort to manage stressful situation and alter a troubled person-environment relationship to modify or eliminate the resources of stress via individual behavior. Problem-focused coping is a problem-solving technique in which an individual addresses a problem or stressor directly in an attempt to alleviate or eliminate it. It is also referred to as problem-centered coping. For example, a student who is nervous about giving a presentation at a research event may cope by practicing the presentation each night before the event, attending seminars on how to give presentations, or asking friends to listen to the presentation in order to provide feedback to make sure they are fully prepared for the event.

According to Lazarus  &Folkman  (1984)  Emotion  focused  coping  strategies  include avoidance or denial, distancing, minimization of the problem,  positive  comparison  or  positive reinterpretation  and  finding  positive  values  in negative  events  and  acceptance. Emotion – focused strategies mainly focus  on  changing  thoughts  and  feelings about the stressors. These strategies are used where the stressors are perceived as extremely threatening and uncontrollable, and when the source of stress is unclear or there is a lack of knowledge about how to solve or tackle the problem. College students may encounter variety of stressors; sometimes students do not recognize its sources. Consequently, at such phenomenon, they must use the emotional based coping forms.  Moreover, though, problem focused  coping  is  best,  it  is  not suitable in every event. For example, when someone has failedat annual examination, problem focused strategy may not be very helpful for this moment. Dealing with the feeling of failure requires emotion-focused coping. It is best strategy for such students

Emotion-focused coping, or emotion-centered coping, is a problem-solving technique in which an individual makes an attempt to control the negative emotional reactions that might arise when faced with a particular problem. The person will try to regulate their emotional reactions rather than trying to address the problem itself. This is often done when the problem cannot be changed or addressed. For example, a teenager who moves to a new state and is nervous about attending a new school may attempt to regulate their negative feelings by talking with friends or family since they can’t change the fact that they moved to a new area.

According to Tennen & Afflect (2002) meaning-focused coping is when people draw on their sbeliefs and values to find benefits in stressful experiences or remind themselves of positive aspects of their lives. Its include reordering one’s life priorities and focusing on the positive meaning of ordinary events. It’s also   Appraisal-based coping in which the person draws on his or her beliefs e.g religious, spiritual or belief about justice, values and existential goals to motivate and sustain coping and well-being during a difficult time.

According to Southwick and Charney, (2012),resilience is the capacity and dynamic process of adaptively overcoming stress and adversity while maintaining normal psychological and physical functioning. Every individual e experiences stressful events and the majorities are exposed to trauma at some point during life. Therefore, understanding how one can develop and enhance resilience is of great relevance to not only promoting coping mechanisms but also mitigating maladaptive coping and stress response in psychiatric illnesses such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although the understanding of resilience is overall still at an early stage, recent investigations have identified mechanisms encompassing genetic, epigenetic, developmental, psychological, and neuro chemical factors that underlie the development and enhancement of resilience and factors that predict vulnerability to stress and susceptibility to psychiatric disorders in the face of stress and trauma. This review outlines discoveries from recent years from studies that have considerably advanced our understanding of resilience to stress and trauma and will likely move forward the development of pharmacological and psychological interventions for enhancing resilience.

Theoretical Framework

The following theories were used to guide the studies the Bio psychosocial Model of George Engel (1977), the Psychodynamic and Cognitive theory of copingd by Folkman and Lazarus (1988). ,The psychodynamic theory of Sigmund Freud ( 1930)

Bio psychosocial model of George Engel (1977)

 The First holistic model “Bio psychosocial” model was proposed by Engel in 1977. Between the 1960s and 1980s, George Engel published a series of papers criticizing medical model and advocating the need for a new model of health and illness.

Enable students to provid, identify and address underlying causes of social adjustment problems, they by tracing coping, taking in to account studentsenvironmental psychological and social factors affecting wellbeing of students,  this model enable students tounderstand better the role of various factors responsible for development of coping mechanism and provide more comprehensive preventive information to students in the society about how they should adjust their lifestyle to have better social adjustment.the Second theory was the Psychodynamic and Cognitive theory of coping which posits that portions of an individual’s knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. People do not learn new behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing, but rather, the survival of humanity is dependent upon the replication of the actions of others. Coping as a result is a survival technique. There are three meta-theoretical assumptions: transaction, process, and context. It is assumed first, that emotions occur as a specific encounter of the person with the environment and that both exert a reciprocal influence on each other; second, that emotions and cognitions are subject to continuous change; and third, that the meaning of a transaction is derived from the underlying context, i.e., various attributes of a natural setting determine the actual experience of emotions and the resulting action tendencies.

The psychodynamic theory of Sigmund Freud ( 1930)

Psychodynamics is the systematized study and theory of psychological forces that underlie human behaviour. his theory is relevant to this study in that it emphasize mitigating or getting rid of social adjustment of a problem. For example, students  struggles with anxiety, cognitive behavioral counseling helps a person address the symptoms of their anxiety. Psychodynamic theory, however, explores a person’s deeply rooted drives, needs and desires. It’s considered a more global approach to therapy than a modern, problem-based therapy.

In the context of the University of Bamenda, coping mechanisms refers to the strategies that students use to manage stress and adversity. Common coping mechanisms include seeking social support , engaging in physical activity, and using relaxation techniyues such as meditation or deep breathing

Social adjustment, on the other hand, refers to the ability of students to adapt to the social environment of the university. This includes forming relationships with peers and facultu, participating in extracurricular activities , and feeling a sense of belonging within the university community. Therefore, it is important for universities like the University of Bamenda to provide resources and support to provide resources and support for students to develop coping mechanisms and social adjustment skills. This can include counseling services, peer support group, and extracurricular activities that promote social interaction and community building, by fostering resilience among students, universities can help to ensure that their students are well equipped to succeed academically and personally.

Statement of the problem

Social adjustment of student is an issue of great concern to many especially, parents, teachers, counselor and psychologist. This is based on the notion that the student social dimension deals with interpersonal or public interactions with other individuals.

Social adjustments are a process of a student adapting to a school environment. But some students fail to adjust which can lead to, school dropout, poor academic performance, delinquent behaviors like bullying, rape drugs use and alcohol, low social wellbeing and social support, unwanted pregnancy and many require school counseling.

So coping strategies such as, problem focused coping mechanism, emotion-focused coping mechanism, meaning-focused coping mechanism and social support coping mechanism are therefore necessary to reduce or eliminate such situations directly or indirectly.

In addition, some students become shy and afraid to reduce the stress of a situation by seeking emotional or instrumental support from their community (Social coping).  When these coping strategies like problem-focused coping mechanism, emotion-focused coping mechanism, meaning-focused coping mechanism and social coping (support-seeking) coping mechanism are wrongly applied or not applied at all, students develop lower satisfaction with their relationships with friends, lower social well-being, attention problems, conduct problems, socioeconomic disadvantage and hence poorly adjust socially to life changing situations.

 Based on the above, this study therefore investigated coping mechanisms and social adjustment of students in the University of Bamenda.

Objectives of the study

General objective

• To examine the EFFECT OF COPING MECHANISMS ON SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA.

Specific objectives

1. To find out the effect of problem-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda.
2. To investigate the effect of emotion-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda.
3. To assess the effect of meaning-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda.
4. To explore the effect of social coping (support-seeking) coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda.

Research questions

General research question         

• What is the effect of coping mechanisms on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda?

Specific research questions

1. What is the effect of problem-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda?
2. What is the effect of emotion-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda?
3. What is the effect of meaning-focused coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda.
4. What is the relationship the effect of social coping (support-seeking) coping mechanism on social adjustment of students in The University of Bamenda?