Assessment of the relationship between life events with psychosocial competence of students in selected secondary schools in Northern and Central Uganda

INTRODUCTION: As they grow, young people transit through adolescence; a particularly challenging phase. Many go through without difficulties but some experience maladaptive responses in form of conduct and adjustment problems, pubertal challenges and life stress. Published research from the developed societies demonstrates consistent associations between young people's exposure to life events, psychosocial competence (PSC) and mental health problems. However, comparable research from income-constrained societies remains scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of life events in secondary school students and describe the relationship between life events and PSC in the same population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were 2,902 randomly selected in Central and Northern Uganda. They responded to self-administered questionnaires on socio-demographics, life events and PSC. RESULTS: Northern Ugandan students were more likely to be susceptible to stress-related illness associated with major life events (p = < 0.01). Among students with a high susceptibility to stress related illness, those with low scores on self-efficacy (p = < 0.001), accurate self-assessment (p = < 0.001) and self-confidence (p = < 0.001) were mostly from the North. Students from Northern Uganda had experienced more negative events. Students with higher scores on empathy, emotional awareness, accurate self- assessment and self-confidence tended to have low distress. Students that had a low susceptibility to stress related illness (AOR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.57 – 2.48); high scores on self-efficacy (AOR 1.37; 95% CI: 1.09 – 1.74), self-confidence (AOR 1.32; 95% CI: 1.02 – 1.72), and accurate self-assessment (AOR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.70 – 2.80) were mostly from northern Uganda. CONCLUSION: It is important to help students to cope with negative life events since an association exists between negative life events and PSC domains. PSC domains of empathy, emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment and self-confidence seem to be associated with lower distress levels, implying that these should be reinforced.