Experience and perceived cause of depressive symptoms among young people during the COVID-19 lockdown: a case of Makerere University students

Abstract

The study sought to examine the experiences and perceived causes of depressive symptoms among young people in Uganda, Makerere University as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. It examined the experience of depressive symptoms among young people, how often these symptoms were experienced and what the participants perceived as the causes of the depressive symptoms that they were experiencing during the COVID-19 lockdown. A total of 111 respondents participated in this study where 108 filled in the structured questionnaires for the quantitative data and 3 student leaders were interviewed which provided the qualitative data. The primary participants were the young people that are enrolled for the program of Social Work and Social Administration at Makerere University. The methods of data collection included a structured questionnaire and the key informant interviews. Data that was collected using the structured questionnaire was entered into the computer using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Use of quotations was adopted to provide evidences for the data collected from the key informant interviews. Findings showed that young people experienced depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown, they indicated that more than half the participants experienced one or more of the identified depressive symptoms. Most of the participants experienced the symptoms for several days. The study suggests that measures should be put in place that will help the young people cope with depressive symptoms in case of any future lockdowns and also to help prevent young people from experiencing these depressive symptoms.