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Predictors of Psychological Stress in Bhutanese Hypertensive Adults

Objective: To examine the prediction of illness perception, religiosity, and social support on psychological stress among adults with hypertension in Bhutan Material and Methods: A predictive correlational design was used, from 120 adults with hypertension; recruited from Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital, using the simple random sampling technique. Data were self-reported through a demographic data questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Cronbach’s α=0.76), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ, Cronbach’s α=0.81), Belief into Action Scale (BIAC, Cronbach’s α=0.87) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS, Cronbach’s α=0.91); between March, 2020 and April, 2020. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlations and Standard Multiple Regression. Results: Regression analysis revealed that psychological stress was predicted by illness perception (β=0.70, p-value 0.738). The model explained 67.0% of the total variance for psychological stress. (R2 =0.67, p-value< 0.001). The mean scores were; psychological stress (20.23±5.58), illness perception (44.50±12.31), religiosity (53.48± 16.01), and social support (61.61±12.08). Conclusion: The findings support the role of illness perception and social support in explaining psychological stress among hypertensive people. Therefore, illness perception and social support may be considered in interventions to manage psychological stress in hypertension patients.