The Relationship between Social Support and Phycological Stress among a sample of the Physically-Disabled in Thamar Governorate

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the relationship between social support and psychological stress among the physically-disabled people and the differences between these two aspects according to gender, disability type, marital status and education level. To achieve this objective, the descriptive method was adopted and a sample representing the physically disabled in Thamar governorate was selected. The sample consisted of (223) individuals (125 males and 98 females) whose age ranged between 18 to 60 years. To collect relevant data, the questionnaire for measuring the social support developed by Sarason, et, al (1983) was administered to the sample. Another scale to measure the psychological stress was developed. The study results revealed there was a positive relationship between social support and psychological stress and that family stress was the most common among the disabled. There was an average mean of perceived social support and a high level of satisfaction of perceived social support among the study sample. Findings also showed there were statistically significant differences in the level of social support, attributed to gender and education level.