Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of mental health and associated risks and protective factors in children and youth aged 10 to 19 years in the Johannesburg Central Education District. This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods research approach, comprising quantitative and qualitative phases, and the integration of results in three phases. The first quantitative design phase was based on a Child and Youth Mental Health Profiling (CYMHP) questionnaire, which consisted of biographical questions, five psychometric tests, and a COVID-19 experience survey, including a support needed questionnaire. A total of 625 children and youth participated in the quantitative phase, comprising 325 females (52%) and 300 males (48%) from seven secondary and five primary schools. This group involved 150 participants from Grades 4 to 7 and 475 from Grades 8 to 11. Participants completed printed documents (hard copies), which were manually captured by the researcher using a web-based profiling system. In the second phase, qualitative data collection methods included face-to-face individual interviews, focus group interviews, and collages with the most resilient and at-risk participants, based on the results of the first phase. Data was analysed through SPSS 29.0 for the quantitative data, and thematic data analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data phase. The quantitative results showed depression, suicide ideation, substance use, anger and aggression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, hallucinations, and inattentive behaviour as mental health difficulties in children and youth. Risk factors identified were emotional dysregulation, lack of perseverance, separated parents, absent fathers, incarcerated family members, substance use, emotional neglect, and emotional and physical abuse. The protective factors noted included healthy eating, physical activity (such as sports and exercise), supportive relationships (with family, parents, teachers, and peers), coping skills, high self-esteem, dreams and aspirations, religion, spirituality, cultural connectedness, and academic achievement. The results demonstrated a higher prevalence of risk factors among youth than children, who showed protective factors. In addition, females were shown to have higher rates of depression, suicide ideation, anxiety, and anger than males, with more substance use and aggressive behaviour. The qualitative findings validated what was found in the quantitative data, but added more findings related to self-harm and absent father figures as risk factors. All themes were classified according to biological, psychological, social, economic, and educational factors. The research employed George Engel’s (1977) biopsychosocial theory, which posits that health and disorder result from the interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors. In addition, Nsamenang’s (2006) social ontogenesis theory was utilised to incorporate an African perspective. The theory focused on human development within the context of community, social interaction, and culture, as the study consisted of black African participants. Based on...