Maternal stress, social support, coping and depression among B40 wives of drug addicts in Malaysia

The prevalence of depression is higher among women in the general population as demonstrated in previous studies, however, there is a scarcity of studies on depression issues among women who experienced life as a wife to a drug addict. Hence, the present study is conducted to determine the association between maternal stress and depression among B40 wives of drug addicts. Moreover, the study intended to examine the mediating role of social support and coping between the relationship of maternal stress and depression. This correlational study is conducted using a cross-sectional design. The target population was recruited from ten states in Peninsular Malaysia using purposive sampling, resulting in participation from 132 wives of drug addicts in total. Four instruments were administered in this study namely Parental Stress Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Coping and Adaptation Processing Scale Short Form (CAPS-Short Form) and Zung Self Rating Depression Scale. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics V22.0 and SmartPLS 4 software. The statistical analysis found that 73.5% of B40 wives of drug addicts exhibit clinical symptoms of depression. The finding also yielded evidence of correlations between study variables in which maternal stress was correlated to depression (β = .317, t= 2.361, p < 0.05), coping (β = -.409, t= 3.293, p < 0.05) and social support (β = -.342, t= 3.531, p < 0.05). Besides, coping is identified to have a negative correlation with depression (β = -.351, t= 2.389, p < 0.05). Nonetheless, no significant correlation was obtained between social support and depression (β = -.038, t= 0.344, p > 0.05). Additionally, bootstrapping analysis of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) demonstrated the existence of a mediation process between maternal stress and depression as mediated by coping (β = .144, t = 2.176, p < 0.05). This finding revealed that coping holds an intervening power in the effects of maternal stress on depression in this study. In other words, maternal stress does not only directly affect depression, but as well as indirectly through coping. Meanwhile, the results of the study show that social support is not a mediating factor between maternal stress and depression (β = .013, t = 0.304, p > 0.05), where the findings are contrary to previous studies. In summary, depression could be alleviated by reducing maternal stress experienced by wives of drug addicts through the application of effective coping strategies. The study findings hold significant implications for developing intervention programs targeted to strengthen the coping capability of wives of drug addicts when experiencing maternal stress as a proactive effort to mitigate depression issues within this community. Additionally, psychologists could benefit from the study findings by identifying the wives’ coping behaviour in handling maternal stress, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of treatment for depression. Moreover, the study findings provide an opportunity for future research to explore different factors potentially contributing to depression within this community. Altogether, collective action by academicians, practitioners, and policymakers is important in empowering B40 wives of drug addicts in Malaysia toward optimum psychological well-being.

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