Coping Strategies of Female Return Migrants Settled in East and West Arsi Zones of Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was intended to assess coping strategies that the women return migrants had used to overcome stressors encountered following their return from Arab countries. Descriptive research design was employed for the present study. The study participants were 147 female individuals sampled from 238 return migrants settled in East and West Arsi Zones of Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia. The Brief COPE Scale (Carver, 1997) was used to assess different coping behaviors and thoughts the individuals had employed in response to stressors. Results indicated that half of the return migrants had employed self distracting coping strategy to respond to their stressors. About fifty percent of them had relied on religion to get relief from stressors. In terms of the composite subscales, about fifty-four percent of them had employed problem focused coping in trying to react to stressors; while, fifty-one percent of them had employed dysfunctional coping strategy. The number of the participants whose reaction was emotion focused were forty-six percent. The overall data on the total scale showed that fifty-seven of the return migrants had more than average score indicating their preference to employ the coping strategies. Majority of the participants’ tendency to opt for the coping strategies had association with their demographics. Significant differences were also observed between and among the participants with respect to their demographics.