Abstract:
The study determined the influence of credit counselling, household debt,
and socio-demographic factors on the psychological well-being of the beneficiaries
of Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) in Njoro sub-county of Nakuru
county in Kenya. The study employed an ex-post-facto research design. The
target population was 380 women in Njoro Sub-County who had received
WEF loans. A stratified random sample of 190 respondents was selected, 95
women who were current in their loan repayment and 95 who were unable to
repay their loans. Data were collected by the use of a structured questionnaire,
the 42 item version of Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales (Ryff, 1989)
clustered in six dimensions: autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in
life, positive relations, personal growth, and self-acceptance was included.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data at 95% level
of confidence. The psychological wellbeing for the women entrepreneurs was
found to be (M = 3.91, SD = 0.72) on a scale of 1 to 6. Psychological wellbeing
of WEF beneficiaries was positively influenced by credit counselling (β =
0.714, t = 15.08, p < 0.001) and age of household head (β = 0.174, t = 1.94, p <
0.050). Negative statistical significant influences were found between household
debts (β = −0.391, t = −2.66, p = 0.008) and psychological wellbeing. Inclusion
of credit counselling services in the WEF loaning procedures was recommended.
