Psychiatric morbidity among adolescents girls incarcerated at Kirigiti and Dagoretti rehabilitation schools in Kenya

Abstract

Studies on juvenile delinquents have shown an overlap between delinquency and psychiatric disorder such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD, conduct disorders (CD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigated the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among adolescent girls in selected rehabilitation schools in Kenya. The study sample had a total of 78 purposely selected adolescents in the two rehabilitation schools. The research found that the overall prevalence of depression was 66.7% that of anxiety disorder was 70.5%, while the prevalence of conduct disorder was 55.1%.In addition. This article has shown high presence of psychiatric morbidity among adolescent girls, incarcerated at Kirigiti and Dagoretti rehabilitation schools. These juvenile needs mental treatment as a key rehabilitation measure.