Abstract
This study investigated the influence of various negative life events on adolescent depression among in-school adolescents in Southwest Nigeria and whether there is gender difference in the association. The descriptive research of the survey type was adopted for the study. The population of the study was all the adolescents, both male and female, in all secondary schools in the southwest of Nigeria. A total of 1650 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years were selected using multistage sampling technique. A self designed questionnaire titled “Assessment of Negative Life Events and Depression Scale” (ANLEDS) was used to elicit information from respondents. The instrument was validated and the reliability was ensured using test re-test method. The reliability co-efficient was 0.75 at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis for the general question raised while hypotheses 1 was tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and hypotheses 2 was tested using student’s t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that negative life experiences are significantly related to the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents and the association is influenced by gender difference. Based on the findings, it was recommended that school counsellors should organize programmes to create more awareness and encourage adolescents to discuss their challenges with a view to reducing adolescent depression in Southwest Nigeria.
Highlights
Adolescent depression has long been regarded as one of the most occurring serious psychiatric disorders (WHO, 2010; Zuckerbrot, et al, 2018) and it has been ranked as the fourth leading cause of disability and premature death among the adolescents, worldwide (Hankin, 2006)
Research Question: Will counselling interventions help to reduce the symptoms of depression among in-school adolescents in Southwest Nigeria?
The result showed that negative life experiences are significantly related to the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents
Summary
Adolescent depression has long been regarded as one of the most occurring serious psychiatric disorders (WHO, 2010; Zuckerbrot, et al, 2018) and it has been ranked as the fourth leading cause of disability and premature death among the adolescents, worldwide (Hankin, 2006). It is not quite different from adult depression as it is characterized by a combination of symptoms highlighted in DSM-5 to include change in mood, physical symptoms like changes in sleep, energy and appetite, feelings of worthlessness, concentration difficulties and a person’s degree of confidence Researchers have found out that various development challenges arising from peer pressure (Platt, Kadosh, & Lau, 2014; Moksnes, Espnes & Haugan, 2014), academic expectations (Ma, Siu, & Tse, 2018), changing bodies (Siegel, 2002) and family issues (Kim, & Cain, 2008), among others, can bring a lot of ups and downs for teens which may lead to the development of depression among the adolescents
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