Abstract:
Depressive symptoms characterised by a mild and non-clinical mental health disorder, is
detrimental to the well-being of human beings. Reports have shown that menopausal rural
farmers in Ibadan less city exhibited bothersome level of depressive symptoms. Previous
scholarly works on depressive symptoms have centred on their prevalence and causes
among women, with little attention and interventions, to using Psychoeducation Training
(PET) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT). This study, therefore, was designed to determine
the effect of PET and IPT in the management of depressive symptoms among menopausal
rural farmers in Ibadan less city. The moderating effects of self-esteem and life events
were also examined.
The study was anchored to Integrated Helplessness/Hopelessness Theory, while the pretest
posttest control group quasi experimental design with a 3x2x2 factorial matrix was
adopted. The multistage sampling procedure was adopted. Three local government areas
(Ido, Akinyele and Ona-ara) in Ibadan, from the existing six, were randomly selected.
Three rural areas (Ajobo, Alabata and Butubutu) were purposively selected based on the
prevalence of menopausal depressive symptoms. The instruments used were a selfdeveloped Life events scale (α = .71), Rosenberg Self-Esteem (α = .71) and Beck
Depression (α = .95) inventories. Participants who scored 10-20 on Fann Patient Health
Questionnaire-9 Depression Screening tool were selected. The participants were randomly
assigned to PET (17), IPT (16) and control (15) groups. The intervention lasted 10 weeks.
Data were analysed using Analysis of covariance and Scheffe posthoc test at 0.05 level of
significance.
The participants‘ age was 48.3 ± 3.56 years, and 45% were married. There was a
significant main effect of treatment in the management of depressive symptoms in
menopausal rural farmers (F (2; 45) = 92.66, partial η2 = 0.98). The participants in IPT had
the lowest mean score on depressive symptoms (9.63) followed by those in PET (16.88),
and those in the control (34.27) groups. Self-esteem had a significant main effect on in
depressive symptoms (F (2; 45) = 5.69, partial η2 = 0.28). Participants with high self-esteem
(16.50) benefited more than did their counterparts with low self-esteem (22.59). There was
no significant main effect of life events in the management of depressive symptoms. There
was significant interaction effect of treatment and self-esteem on depressive symptoms (F
(2; 45) = 6.70, partial η2 = 0.47). The two-way interaction effects of treatment and life events
and self-esteem and life events were not significant. The three-way interaction effect was
not significant
Psychoeducation training and Interpersonal therapy were effective in managing
depressive symptoms, but Interpersonal therapy was more effective in managing
depressive symptoms among menopausal rural farmers in Ibadan less city. Developmental,
counselling and clinical psychologists should adopt these interventions for managing
depressive symptoms among menopausal rural farmers.
