Psychological well-being among boarding secondary school students in Uganda

Abstract

Psychological well-being issues have increased among students in today’s contemporary world as compared to the older generation. Promoting psychological well-being and protecting students in boarding secondary schools from adverse experiences and risk factors that may impact their potential to thrive are critical for their well-being during adolescence and for their physical and mental health in adulthood. This study examined the psychological well-being of boarding secondary school students in Uganda. Data for this study was elucidated through the use of Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-being. This study employed a descriptive cross-sec tional study design using a mixed methods approach, during which quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses were conducted separately yet concurrently to gain detailed results. After excluding students with incomplete questionnaires, the final analysed sample consisted of 617 students; the participation rate was 89.4% with complete data obtained through questionnaire ad ministration. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, and means) and inferential statistics (Analysis of Variance; ANOVA) were used to analyse quantitative data while qualitative data obtained through interviews were analysed thematically. The study re vealed that a majority (89.0 %) of the participants had moderate psychological well-being with the overall psychological well-being mean score (M = 3.98, SD = 0.21) and 11.0% reported low psychological well-being with non in the high psychological well-being category. Results from interview revealed that the lower level of psychological well-being was due to the influence of the demanding school academic programs.