Married Couples’ Perceptions of Family Stress

Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions of married couples in Ilorin Municipality, Kwara State of Nigeria towards family stress. A total of 200 purposively selected married couples from five institutions namely, churches, public and private secondary schools and the Ministry of Education responded to surveys related to their perceptions of family stress according to their sex and occupation. The main instrument used for data collection was the researchers’ ‘Family Stress Questionnaire’ (FSQ). Results of the findings analyzed using t-test and ANOVA statistics indicated that male and female married couples differed significantly in their perceptions of family stress. It further showed that unemployed couples and those in public and private employment were significantly different. The implications of the findings were discussed as well as strategies for dealing with family stress.