Family Cohesion, Distress Disclosure, Retirement Adjustment, Social Support and Mental Health Status of Retirees in Nigeria
The study investigated individual, and joint contribution effect of family cohesion, distress disclosure, retirement adjustment, and social support to the mental health status of retirees in Ondo State. Survey research design was used in the study. The population comprises all teacher retirees from the public primary and secondary schools in the State. A sample of n = 115 was purposively drawn from retirees in two Local Government Areas in the State. Two hypotheses guided the study. The results showed that family cohesion has a positive significant effect (Beta weight = 0.621, R 2 =0.386, F- value = 71.636, p-value = 0.000< 0.05), while distress disclosure has a negative significant effect (Beta weight = -0.221, R 2 =0.049, F-value = 5.86, p-value = 0.017< 0.05) on the mental health status of the retirees. Further results showed that retirement adjustment has a positive significant effect (Beta weight = 0.418, R 2 =0.175, F-value = 24.126, p-value = 0.000 0.05) on the mental health status of the respondents. Additional results showed existence of a significant joint effects of family cohesion, distress disclosure, retirement adjustment, and social support (R = 0.652, R 2 =0.426, F-value = 20.565, p-value = 0.000< 0.05) on the mental health status of the retirees. It is recommended, among others, that during pre-retirement and post-retirement phases, administrators and retirement counsellors should deservedly emphasize the roles of family cohesion, distress disclosure, retirement adjustment, and social support to retirees’ positive mental health.
