College of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 12;13(4):e0195377. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195377. eCollection 2018.
Orphans face multiple challenges including insufficient food, shelter, schooling, and medical care. Most research on orphans in developing countries concentrates on nutrition and health status. The present study aims to explore the psychological wellbeing of in-school orphaned and non-orphaned children.
A comparative cross-sectional study design was used in 370 randomly selected children aged between 10 and 18. Two rosters (one for orphans and one for non-orphans) were created, and then 185 were selected from each roster. Trained field workers used structured questionnaires to obtain information from participants. An adapted Ryff Psychological Wellbeing Scale was used to measure psychological wellbeing. Mean scores were determined for each dimension and for total psychological wellbeing. The mean split was used to divide psychological wellbeing into "high" and "low". Data were coded, entered, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 20. The independent sample t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences in psychological wellbeing between orphaned and non-orphaned children. P values < 0.05 were deemed statistically significant.
Of 370 children, 185 (50%) were orphans. Among orphaned children, only 62 (33.5%) scored high on the total psychological wellbeing scale whereas 107 (57.8%) of their non-orphaned peers scored highly. The non-orphaned children had about 10.8 higher mean psychological wellbeing scores than their orphan counterparts (P<0.001). The mean (±SD) psychological wellbeing of the non-orphaned children was 164.0 (17.2) vs. 153.2 (17.2) in the orphaned group.
The psychological wellbeing of orphans is significantly lower than their non-orphaned peers. Orphan support projects must consider psychosocial wellbeing in addition to material support.
孤儿面临着多种挑战，包括食物、住所、教育和医疗资源不足。大多数发展中国家的孤儿研究集中在营养和健康状况上。本研究旨在探讨在校孤儿和非孤儿的心理健康状况。
采用随机抽取的 370 名 10 至 18 岁儿童进行横断面比较研究。编制了两份花名册（孤儿和非孤儿各一份），然后从每个花名册中各抽取 185 名儿童。经过培训的现场工作人员使用结构化问卷从参与者处获取信息。采用改良 Ryff 心理幸福感量表测量心理幸福感。确定每个维度和总心理幸福感的平均得分。采用平均分划分法将心理幸福感分为“高”和“低”两类。使用 SPSS 20 版对数据进行编码、输入、清理和分析。采用独立样本 t 检验确定孤儿和非孤儿儿童在心理幸福感方面的统计学差异。P 值<0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。
在 370 名儿童中，有 185 名（50%）是孤儿。在孤儿中，只有 62 名（33.5%）在总心理幸福感量表上得分较高，而 107 名（57.8%）非孤儿同伴得分较高。非孤儿儿童的平均心理幸福感得分比他们的孤儿同龄人高约 10.8 分（P<0.001）。非孤儿儿童的平均（±SD）心理幸福感为 164.0（17.2），而孤儿组为 153.2（17.2）。
孤儿的心理健康状况明显低于非孤儿同龄人。孤儿支持项目除了提供物质支持外，还必须考虑社会心理幸福感。
