| dc.description.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 | en_US |
