Prevalence of Conduct Disorder among Adolescents in Secondary Schools: A Case of Kamukunji and Olympic Mixed Sub-County Secondary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

Monica Gitonga, PhD., (Kenya Methodist University); Susan Muriungi, PhD., and Kennedy Ongaro, PhD., (Daystar University); M. Omondi, PhD., (Mount Kenya University)

Abstract

Conduct disorder (CD) is a behavioral emotional mental disorder associated with a host of negative and social outcomes among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of CD and establish the relationship between CD and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design. Cluster and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 611 participants out of the 840 study population in the two sites. Data was collected by administering a socio-demographic questionnaire (SDQ) and a standardized conduct disorder scale (CDS). Measures of central tendencies, bivariate and multivariate analysis were computed using SPSS version 21. The key findings of the study were that overall CD prevalence was 31.4%, with males having a higher prevalence than females p=0.009, CD increased with respondents’ age (p=0.008), religion significantly impacted on CD prevalence either as a precipitating or as a protective factor (p=0.041). CD being a behavioral emotional disorder and the prevalence being this significantly high call for appropriate psychological interventions. Based on the findings, the study recommends capacity building of principals and teachers so as to be able to identify CD tendencies among students. Further, the study suggests effective treatment for CD in order to help curb the emergence of CD among the students while reducing the burden of disease on  parents of affected adolescents, the school and the community.

Key words: Conduct disorder, prevalence, socio-demographic characteristics, conduct disorder scale.