Perceived social support, stress, and depression among adolescents in Kampala

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between Perceived Social Support, Stress and Depression among adolescents in Kampala district, the objectives of this study focused on examining the relationship between Perceived Social Support and Stress, the relationship between Perceived Social Support and Depression and well as the relationship between Depression and Stress. The research adopted a correlational study design to establish the relationship between Perceived Social Support, Stress and Depression among adolescents in Kampala district. A total of 100 respondents were purposely selected to participate in the study since the method was appropriate as the researcher used her own judgment to select the respondents. Data collection was done using self-administered questionnaires and was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (r) was then applied to determine the level of the hypothesis. The study results revealed that there is no significant relationship between perceived social support and stress. Furthermore, there’s also no significant relationship between perceived social support and depression. however, there’s no significant relationship between depression and stress among adolescents. In a nutshell, stress with associated links to depression has a significant destructive impact in the lives of adolescents. However, with influence from good social support networks among adolescents, stress and depression can be amicably handled to improve a person’s wellbeing .Therefore, the study recommends counseling should be adopted to effectively address negative feelings towards self and sense of self blame that normally aggravate the problem of stress and has serious implications sometimes even resulting into suicidal intentions and suicide if not addressed early enough therefore where necessary compulsory counseling may be adopted because through such the counselor may be in position to identify issues that the student may not be willing to open up about easily.