Stress, Anxiety and Depression among Teenage Mothers in Kampala District: Case study of Kamwokya Central Division

Abstract

The study aimed finding out the relationship between stress, anxiety and depression among teenage mothers in Kamwokya. The study adopted a quantitative study design which was correlation in nature. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 52 teenage mothers from the population. Data was collected from respondents using self-administered standard questionnaire and entered in the computer for analysis through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 23. Descriptive statistics showed that all the respondents were females (100%), majority were between 15-25 years (96.2%). Results from Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) further indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between stress and anxiety (r = .810**, p=.000), as well as anxiety and depression (r =.866**, p=.000), and stress and depression (r =.754**, p=.000). Therefore, the present study provides a basis and implications for further investigation on relationship between stress, anxiety and depression among teenage mothers in different districts of Uganda. It was recommended that the authorities of Kamwokya should design police focusing on minimizing teenage pregnancies. This will help in reducing stress, anxiety and depression among teenage mothers. This is through encouraging teenage mothers to go for counseling services provided in the community. If this is handled well, then cases of stress, anxiety and depression may reduce among teenage mothers.