Abstract
This study investigated mental health in children and adolescents in the Umlazi District,
KwaZulu-Natal. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of mental health
problems and identify the risk and resilience factors that impacted mental health. Further, it
aimed to make recommendations on the role of educational psychologists in mental health
intervention and the development of relevant mental health policies by the Departments of
Health and Education. A sequential explanatory mixed method approach, comprising three phases, was used. Phase one was the quantitative approach, and a random sample was used to
select 1,709 learners from both primary and secondary schools. In phase one, the Child and
Youth Mental Health Profiling System (CYMHPS) was used to gather data. The CYMHPS questionnaire comprised the Biographical Profiling Questionnaire; Adverse Childhood
Questionnaire (ACE); Strengths and Difficulty Questionnaire (SQD); the Child and Youth
Resilience Measure (CYRM); the DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure, and the “About Me” Questionnaire (AMQ); a COVID-19 questionnaire was also
included. The IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.0 was used to analyse the data. Phase two was the qualitative approach and the data collection focused on the participants’ subjective experiences. Ten participants who scored high in the resilience measure and ten who scored
high on the risk measure were selected to participate in individual interviews, focus group
interviews, and collages. Phase three included the integrated findings that emerged from the quantitative and qualitative phases. This phase presented the prevalence of mental health and
the risks and resilience factors identified in the sample, and provided recommendations on the role that educational psychologists may play in providing mental health support for children
and adolescents. The main theory chosen for this study is Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory. An additional theory was Nsamenang’s social ontogenesis theory; this was included to give an African perspective to the study. The study found that female respondents were more vulnerable and at risk regarding adverse childhood experiences leading to mental health conditions than the male respondents and were more affected by anxiety, somatic problems, anger and irritability, repetitive thoughts and behaviours, psychosis, depression, and
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more thoughts of committing suicide than male respondents. Male respondents endorsed
substance abuse more than female respondents. Further, older respondents were at greater risk
to substance abuse, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts than the younger respondents. The study contributed to new knowledge on risk and resilience factors in children and adolescents.
The symptomatology identified is likely to benefit children and adolescents for early detection
and treatment of mental health difficulties.
Keywords: adolescents, educational psychologists, mental health, resilience, risk factors,
resilience-enablers