Abstract
This study aims to find out mental health problems and examine their role in prediction of psychiatric conditions in street children in residential care. Five (5) street children residential centres in Lusaka District, as well as a cross-section of street children (74) in residential care aged between 7 and 17 years were used for this study. Overall, 74 (68 males and 6 females) children in residential care were at risk of having a mental health problem. Forty of them were at risk of having multiple mental health problems. The most frequent disorders were behavioural and emotional disorders, because 40.5% of the children and young people scored above average stress levels. The findings also indicated a strong correlation between co-morbidity and overall stress, rho = 68, n = 74, p < 0.001, that is, co-morbidity helps to explain 46% shared variance in respondent’s scores on overall stress. There was a strong relationship between mental health problems and prediction of psychiatric conditions in street children. The results in this study illustrate that mental heath problems and levels of stress co-exist. Therefore, assessment of multiple mental health problems in providing mental health services to street children in residential care should be included in the management plan. In addition, multiple mental health problems indicate the complexities of mental health problems, an aspect that demands collaborative efforts from various stakeholders involved in child care systems. Key words: Co-morbidity, mental-health-problems, stress-among-street-children, residential-care.
Highlights
The number of children and adolescents living in Zambian residential care homes is approximately 2,500(Department of Social Welfare Annual Report, 2009).Multiple risk factors such as poverty, broken homes, neglect, sexual and physical abuse, discontinued relationships, and genetic factors have an impact on the mental health of children and adolescents in residential and foster care (Richardson and Lelliot, 2003; Rutter, 1985; Newton, 1988)
The findings of the present study according to the general diagnosis of mental health problems showed that in overall, 74% of children and young people in residential care had a mental health problem
Research evidence indicates that a considerable number of this group of children have multiple mental health problems/disorders and exhibit high levels of mental health needs and poorer functioning (McCann et al, 1996; Clark et al, 2005)
Summary
The number of children and adolescents living in Zambian residential care homes is approximately 2,500(Department of Social Welfare Annual Report, 2009).Multiple risk factors such as poverty, broken homes, neglect, sexual and physical abuse, discontinued relationships, and genetic factors have an impact on the mental health of children and adolescents in residential and foster care (Richardson and Lelliot, 2003; Rutter, 1985; Newton, 1988). The number of children and adolescents living in Zambian residential care homes is approximately 2,500. (Department of Social Welfare Annual Report, 2009). Multiple risk factors such as poverty, broken homes, neglect, sexual and physical abuse, discontinued relationships, and genetic factors have an impact on the mental health of children and adolescents in residential and foster care (Richardson and Lelliot, 2003; Rutter, 1985; Newton, 1988). International prevalence rates for mental health problems/disorders in residential care for children and adolescents are estimated to be between 44 and 96%, with large studies reporting a prevalence of 60 to 70% (Schmid et al, 2008). Research evidence indicates that a considerable number of this.
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