MST-Department of Psychology

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Browsing MST-Department of Psychology by Subject "Candidates in Mombasa County"

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    Influence of Covid-19 Preventive Measures on Psychological Well-Being of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2021 Candidates in Mombasa County Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2023-11) Gachungi, Catherine Karimi; Simon Ndirangu
    Coronavirus, COVID-19, hit the world late 2019 and heavily in 2020 requiring governments to set in place preventive measure to curb the spread of the virus. Among the measures set were school closures and social distancing. To mitigate the lost school hours, schools resorted to online learning. While several researches had been conducted on the area of COVID-19 preventive measures on psychological well-being, the majority of the studies focused on students in general without being specific to candidates whose psychological well-being might have been affected given the proximity to sitting a summative examination which determined their future careers. To fill this gap in knowledge, this research project was aimed at establishing the influence of COVID-19 preventive measures on psychological well-being among the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2021 candidates in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study’s research objectives were: to assess the levels of psychological well-being of KCSE 2021 candidates; to find out the influence of schools’ closure; assess the influence of social distancing; and determine the influence of online learning, on the psychological well-being of KCSE 2021 candidates from secondary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya. This study used the ex post facto and the cross-sectional research designs. All the 8840 KCSE 2021 candidates in Mombasa County formed the target population. This study sample size was 384 KCSE 2021 candidates; and 11 teachers who were key informants, one from each of the national, county, Sub County, and private participant schools from Mombasa County. Respondents were sampled through simple random sampling. Collection of primary data was via a questionnaire sent online. The study used descriptive statistics in analyzing data collected and findings were presented in percentages and frequencies. Multiple linear regression analysis was used for inferential statistics Findings showed that the psychological well-beingof KCSE candidates was very unhealthy (42.5%). Analysis of findings also consluded school closure had a negative and significant correlation with psychological well-being of KCSE 2021 candidates. Further results showed that social distancing had a negative and significant correlation with psychological well-being of KCSE 2021 candidates. Additionally, results suggested that online learning had a negative and significant correlation with psychological well-being of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2021 candidates. The study concluded that students access to services offered at school was below average (36.5%) The study further concluded students experience of social distancing was very negative (34.6%). These affected their psychological well-being. Findings of this study may be beneficial to schools’ guidance and counseling departments as well as the Ministry of Education in understanding and identifying the psychological needs of secondary school students as a result of COVID-19 preventive measures and thereby enable them to develop strategies to mitigate any negative effects. The Ministry of Education may consider providing outreach counseling services targeted at the candidates. The candidates may also benefit from the knowledge generated and this may inform their seeking psychosocial support to manage any negative effects. The study recommended that, timely assessments of secondary schools students’ psychological well-being needed to be done so as to monitor their status. Holistic intervention procedures may also be beneficial to the secondary school students. This therefore calls for combined efforts of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other health practitioners to apply treatment strategies.