Gender Differences and Job Stress in Depression among Civil Servants in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated gender differences and job stress in depression among civil servants in Enugu State. A total of two hundred (200) participants comprising 100 males between the ages of 28 – 62 with mean age of 41.64 and standard deviation of 8.89, and 100 females between the ages of 25 – 60 with the mean age of 39.62 and standard deviation of 7.01 were selected for the study. They were selected making use of available sampling method from the population of both Federal and state parastatals’ civil servants, all in Enugu State. Self-rating depression scale developed by Zung (1965), which is a 20-item questionnaire designed to assess the cognitive, psychomotor, affective, and interpersonal dimensions of depression was administered to the participants to assess their level of depression. Also, Job-related tension scale developed by Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoeck and Rosenthal (1964), which is a 15-item questionnaire designed to assess organizational stress was administered to the participants. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted and Two-Way Analysis of Variance F-test was applied at the statistical tool. The findings revealed that the gender yielded a significant outcome F (1,196) = 27.94 at P<.001. Also, Job stress yielded as significant outcome F (1,196) 0.20 at P<.05. The findings were discussed and recommendations were made.

Keywords: Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, Job Involvement, Depression, Good Health.