Effects of school clubs on psychosocial well-being of Secondary school going learners

Abstract

Whereas many school clubs have been established among schools in Uganda‟s refugee settlements over the years. There has been limited evidence on the effect of school clubs on Psychosocial well-being of refugee adolescents, particularly those in secondary school going age bracket in Uganda. UNHCR (2022) noted increasing trend of suicide cases the same age bracket. Existing studies are not specific to Uganda refugee setting, to prove whether there are significant differences in psychosocial well-being outcomes of refugee adolescents participating in school clubs and those that do not participate. Other studies mostly present qualitative evidence. Qualitative and Quantitative data was collected from randomly sampled refugee secondary school leaners in Bidibidi, Palorinya, Kyaka II and Rwamwanja Refugee settlements. Categorical Regression (CATREG) analysis using Optimal Scaling was used to explore the extent to which Psychosocial well-being is affected by school clubs. Specific objectives of the study were to: Find out degree to which school club parameters influence stress levels; self-esteem levels; Psychosocial resilience and combined psychosocial wellbeing parameters of secondary school students in refugee communities in Uganda. Study investigates whether belonging to school clubs (Average number of members involved in a club, Number of clubs a student is involved in, type of club which student belongs, length of time spent participating in school clubs significantly affect psychosocial wellbeing (stress levels, self-esteem and Psychosocial resilience) of refuge secondary school level students in Uganda. Increasing participation in school club activities negatively affected levels of stress among refugee students. Overall, belonging to school club significantly determined level of stress among refugee students in ordinary secondary levels of education in Uganda. The type of club student belonged potentially had significant association with stress level (β = -1.129, p = 0.006). Similarly, the more the time spent participating in school club activities” significantly reduces stress (β = -0.108, p = 0.035). Number of members per club was negatively related to Self-Esteem of students (p = 0.047). Students who were involved in more than one club had substantially higher levels of self-esteem (p = 0.018). The number of clubs participated in, had significant positive association with their psychosocial resilience (p = 0.018). The higher number of members per club had a negative impact on Psychosocial Resilience levels (beta =-0.553; p = 0.035). There is need to Prioritize school clubs with appropriate student-to-club ratios and duration is crucial for enhancing psychosocial resilience and self-esteem among refugee students in secondary schools. Future research should explore the impact of active engagement in school clubs and include additional variables to improve predictive outcomes in similar contexts