COPING STRATEGIES AND CAREGIVER’S BURDEN AMONG PRIMARY CAREGIVERS OF WOUNDED IN ACTION SOLDIERS IN 44 NIGERIAN REFERENCE HOSPITAL KADUNA

Abstract

Caregivers of wounded soldiers face significant challenges that can lead to caregiver burden. This study examined the impact of different coping strategies on caregiver burden among primary caregivers of wounded-in-action soldiers at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna. A cross-sectional study was conducted using purposive sampling, involving 91 caregivers. Participants were predominantly male (58.2%), aged 18 to 64, and were primarily siblings (79.1%) or spouses (16.5%) of the wounded soldiers. Three hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression to assess the relationship between emotion-focused, avoidant, and task-oriented coping strategies and caregiver burden. Results showed that emotion-focused coping and avoidant coping were found to be significant positive predictors of caregiver burden. Conversely, task-oriented coping emerged as a significant negative predictor of caregiver burden. The findings indicate that caregivers who rely more on emotion-focused or avoidant coping strategies experience higher levels of burden, while those employing task-oriented coping strategies tend to experience less burden. This study highlights the crucial role of coping strategies in determining the level of stress and burden experienced by caregivers of wounded soldiers. The study recommended that integrated support systems and providing training on effective coping strategies to help caregivers manage the challenges associated with their role should be implemented. These interventions could potentially reduce caregiver burden and improve the overall well-being of both caregivers and the wounded soldiers they support.