Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/664

Browse

Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Subject "Adjustment (Psychology) in adolescents"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Psychological strengths mediating the stress-coping experience : implications for mental health in school-going adolescents from low-income communities of the Cape Metropole
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-03) Harrison, Carmen; Somhlaba, Nceba Z.; Loxton, H. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African research has paid scant attention to the role of psychological strengths in coping with stress and the impact these have on the overall mental health of adolescents living low-income communities. However, an understanding of the role of psychological strengths in mediating the impact of stress on the mental health of adolescents is necessary as it could indicate those factors that may be pivotal to interventions targeting mental-health promotion and mental-illness prevention for vulnerable adolescents. The present study investigated the mental health of school-going adolescents who reside in low-income communities of the Cape Metropole (Western Cape, South Africa), with a specific focus on psychological strengths (in particular self-esteem, perceived social support and resilience) and their mediating role on tHE stress-coping process. The first manuscript of the study focuses on providing a synthesis of current literature, existing gaps in the literature and identifying avenues for mental-health promotion for at-risk adolescents. I used randomised cluster sampling to select six no-fee paying schools situated in low-income communities of the Cape Metropole as the sites for data collection. For the second (quantitative) manuscript, the questionnaire-responses of 347 participants (aged 12 to 21 years), were used. I used Structural Equation Modelling to test a hypothesised model including the latent variables of mental health, psychological stress, psychological strengths (self-esteem, perceived social support and resilience) and various coping strategies. The hypothesised measurement model fit the data and the structural relations revealed that the relationship between psychological stress and mental health was fully mediated by psychological strengths. Therefore psychological strengths had a protective impact on the mental health of adolescents who experienced psychological stress in the context of socio-economic adversity. The third (qualitative) manuscript of the study focused on highlighting participants’ personal narratives of stressors, stress, coping, psychological strengths and mental health that were explored by means of individual semi-structured audio-recorded interviews with 14 participants (aged 13 to 17 years) from four schools. Following the thematic analyses of the data the following themes were evident: the community as a source of stress and support, peer relationships as a source of stress, fear of failure at school, avoidant coping as a risk factor, self-esteem as a protective factor, perceived social support and support networks as protective factors and problem-solving coping as a protective factor.I have included a fourth qualitative manuscript to underscore the numerous violence-related stressors that the adolescents who participated in the study encountered. Thus,the latter descriptive manuscript explored the written responses of 150 school-going adolescents (aged 13 to 21 years), drawn from three schools situated in three different low-income areas of the Cape Metropole regarding the violence they had witnessed in their communities. Thematically analysed written responses that emerged from the adolescent voices, could be subsumed under five violence-related themes discussed in Chapter 6. This study adds to the knowledge on South African adolescents’ mental health, in the context of socio-economic adversity. The findings can be used to inform strategies aimed at enhancing mental health and preventing mental illness in at-risk adolescents.