Abstract
This quantitative study investigated the mental health of adolescents in the Johannesburg West Education District, as well as the associated mental health risks and resilience factors. A sample of 91 learners,10 males and 81 females took part, The IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.0 was used to analyse the data through an online system named The Child and Youth Mental Health Profiling System (CYMHPS). The CYMHPS was developed at the University of Johannesburg. After getting consent from the participants and their caregivers, the researcher sent a link to the participants where they could confidentially answer questions. The CYMHPS collected real-time data from the participants. The CYMHPS consisted of the following items: a biographical questionnaire, Child and Youth Resilience Measurement–28 (CYRM-28), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), “About Me” Questionnaire (AMQ), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fifth Edition (DSM-5) Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (CCSM) and a COVID-19 questionnaire. The results showed the increased anxiety and stress levels experienced by the learners. According to the findings, 22 % of the female participants reported four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). These included experiences of household dysfunction, emotional neglect, physical and psychological abuse. The findings indicated that females, experienced significantly higher levels of mental health problems than males, in most cases. These mental health symptoms included fears, stress, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The risk factors included dysfunctional homes, neglect, and physical and verbal abuse. These risk factors caused adolescents in the Johannesburg West Education District to be vulnerable to mental health problems. The study also found that increased resilience factors minimised health symptoms. The resilience factors included individual skills, individual peer support skills, individual social skills, physical caregiver and psychological caregiver skills, spiritual beliefs, educational support, and cultural connections.The researcher provided recommendations from the findings to offer support to the Johannesburg West Educational District, its schools, and school-going children in South Africa.
Keywords: Adolescents, COVID-19, Johannesburg West Education District, mental health, resilience factors, risk factors