Alcohol use, depressive symptoms and coping strategies among school going adolescents in Kampala District.

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine whether there is a relationship between alcohol use, depressive symptoms and coping strategies among school going adolescents. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the relationship between alcohol use and depressive symptoms, alcohol use and coping strategies, depressive symptoms and coping strategies and the mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between alcohol use and coping strategies among school going adolescents in Kampala District. The study had a sample of 300 respondents who were randomly selected from three different secondary schools (Makerere College School, Kololo S.S, and Old Kampala High School). Self-administered questionnaires were used in data collection process the data was then analyzed using the statistical software package for social sciences (SPSS). Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the significance of the relationships among variable. The findings showed no significant correlation between alcohol use and depressive symptoms (r= -0.043, p>0.05), furthermore the findings showed no significant correlation between alcohol use and coping strategies (r=0.115, p>0.05). In addition, findings showed a positive significant correlation between depressive symptoms and coping strategies (r=0.373, p<0.05). and there was no mediating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between alcohol use and coping strategies among school going adolescents. Hence it was concluded that there is no significant relationship between alcohol use, depressive symptoms yet a relationship was found between depressive symptoms and coping strategies. Hence, it was recommended that the government, and non-government organization Ensure adolescents have access to mental health counseling that focuses on identifying and managing depressive symptoms effectively through adaptive coping strategies.