Social Competence and Mental Health Among Students with Disabilities in Ethiopian Universities: The Mediating Role of Social Support

This study was designed to examine the mediating role of social support in relationships from social competence to psychological distress and wellbeing. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. A sample of 276 university students with disabilities was participated in the study from three selected public higher education institutions in Ethiopia. The data were collected through questionnaire. Data were analyzed using IBM (R) SPSS 23.0 (R) and IBM (R) Amos 23.0 (R). Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the mediating role of social support in the association from social competence to psychological distress and psychological wellbeing. The model provided a good fit to the sample data. The results of the study indicated that social support fully mediated the relationships from social competence to psychological distress and wellbeing among university students with disabilities in Ethiopia. Developing intervention strategies that can enhance and maintain effective social interaction and social support among students with disabilities is a promising and important step for promoting psychological wellbeing of students with disabilities.