Perceived Influence of Mid-Life Crises on Emotional Adjustment of Civil Servants in Benue State, Nigeria

There is a growing interest among psychotherapists to treat emotional problems among workers in midlife around the world. This study investigated the perceived influence of mid-life crises on emotional adjustment of civil servants in Benue State, Nigeria. The study looked at the perceived influence of marital crises and declining health on emotional adjustment of Civil servants. Two specific objectives with corresponding research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were formulated. The study adopted a survey research design and was carried out in Benue State, Nigeria. The population for the study comprises 19,109 civil servants in Benue State. The sample size for the study was 392 civil servants in Benue State determined using Taro Yamane Formular and was composed via accidental or convenience sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Mid-life Crisis and Emotional Adjustment Questionnaire†(MCEAQ). The instrument was validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha method and a reliability coefficient of 0.77 was obtained. Data collected was analyzed using Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions and Chi-Square statistic to test the null hypotheses at 0.05level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that, marital crises and declining health have significant negative influence on emotional adjustment of civil servants in Benue State. It was concluded from the study that mid-life crisis can be very overwhelming, leaving civil servants to handle negative emotional state of mind and a realm of feelings they might not have had to deal with. Based on the findings, it was recommended that, counselling should be given to middle aged couples by guidance counsellors to encourage them to develop patience, tolerance and understanding for each other which may in turn help to reduce marital crises; civil servants facing mid-life crises should be encouraged by guidance counsellors to establish a healthy work/life balance – putting aside time to relax and to do the things to enjoy.