Stress, substance abuse & depression among adolescents in Kawempe Division, Kampala District

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the relationship between stress, substance abuse and depression among adolescents Kampala District. The specific objective of the study was to determine the relationship between stress, substance abuse and depression adolescents. The study had 100 respondents who were randomly selected from both senior four and six classes at Gayaza Road High School. Self-administered questionnaires were used in data collection process the data was analyzed using the statistical software package for social sciences (SPSS). Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient was used determine the significance of the relationships among variables. The results revealed that there is a significant study between stress and substance abuse among adolescents. The results further indicated that there is a significant relationship between stress and depression among adolescents and lastly the study also revealed that there is a significant relationship between substance abuse and depression among adolescents in Kampala District. The study recommended that school managements, parents and policy makers must establish and set in place policies which cater for students affected by depression. Such policies may include school counselling programs for students affected which will help in the contribution towards the reduction of the problem of depression and also look for other factors that could be the cause of depression among adolescents.