Browsing by Author "Waithima, Charity Wangui"

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    Alcohol use dynamics and mitigation among adolescents in rural Kenya
    (Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2019) Waithima, Charity Wangui; Wahome, Lilian
    Alcohol use has remained a critical problem among adolescents in Kenya. The use is conceptualized as a behavior which results from the interplay between the social-economic environment and personal factors. The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence, predictors and alleviation of alcohol use among adolescents in rural Nyeri, Kenya. The study was a quasi-experimental quantitative study in which purposive and simple random sampling were used to select participants (n=1038) from eight county administrative units. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect data at baseline and endline after six months. Descriptive statistics were applied to summarize categorical and continuous variables while Odds Ratio (OR)and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) brought out the estimated strength of association between independent and the dependent variables.Effectiveness of the mitigation strategy applied was assessed after six months with reference to the baseline. 48.6% of the participants indicated having used alcohol in their lifetime, with 34.7% reporting alcohol consumption in the last one month. Seven independent predictors of alcohol use among the participantswere identified using binary logistic regression at P<0.05. Application of five life skillshad significant protective effect on alcohol use (OR=0.36; 95% CI: 0.26 –0.48; p=0.001) whereby a student enrolled in the experimental group was 64% less likely to use alcohol compared to one in the control group. Life skills were therefore found to be effective in empowering adolescents to develop safe and healthy behavior with regard to alcohol use reduction
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    Life Skills Enhancement for Psychoactive Substance use Reduction among School going Adolescents in Kenya.
    (Global Research and Development Services, 2017) Waithima, Charity Wangui
    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of life skills enhancement on substance use reduction among school going adolescents in Nyeri, Kenya. The study was a quasi-experimental quantitative study. Life skills’ enhancement was employed for six months. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select participants (n=1010) at baseline with experimental (n=454) and control (n=556) groups. A self-administered socio-demographic questionnaire and the Global School-based Student Health Survey tool were used to get data. Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) brought out the estimated strength of association between independent variables and the dependent variable. Efficacy of the intervention was assessed after six months within and between groups at endline with reference to baseline using Pearson’s chi-square. The overall current prevalence of substance use at baseline was 48.7%. In addition, there was a significant difference in reduction of substance use in the experimental group after intervention. It emerged that an adolescent enrolled in the experimental group was 86% times less likely to use any psychoactive substance compared to one in the control group. Life skills when enhanced were therefore found to be effective in empowering adolescents to develop safe and healthy behavior with regard to substance use. It is therefore recommended that education stakeholders in Kenya adapt the life skills enhancement strategy towards substance use reduction. Since the life skills enhancement training model was successful in Nyeri, there is need to expand it within the East Africa region and the rest of Africa
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    Perceived Markers of Adulthood in the Peri-Urban Areas of Nairobi, Kenya.
    (The University Journal: A Doctoral Association of Eastern Africa (DAEA), 2024) Waithima, Charity Wangui; Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen; Muchiri-Muchai, Anne W.
    Research on emerging adulthood and markers of adulthood continues to grow worldwide. However, extensive research is yet to be conducted among African populations. The purpose of this study was to understand the markers of adulthood that young people aged 18-29 years in the Nairobi Metropolitan Region of Kenya consider to be important, to assess whether young people think that they have reached adulthood, and to explore whether there are significant differences between collegiate and non-collegiate populations in perceptions of the transition to adulthood. Data were collected using the Markers of Adulthood (MoA) Scale. Findings from this study indicate that the markers of adulthood that are most important to young people from peri-urban areas in Kenya are learning to control emotions (M=3.70, SD=.66), accepting responsibility for your actions (M=3.65, SD=.71), and making independent decisions (M=3.65, SD=.70). Nearly half (47%) of young people in this study reported that they feel they have reached adulthood in some ways and not others. This study is intended to improve the understanding of the transition to adulthood in Kenya. Understanding young people within the context of emerging adulthood will enable practitioners, parents, instructors, institutions, and society as a whole, to adequately address the unique challenges that emerging adults are facing.
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    Role of Parents in Prevention of Substance Use among Adolescents in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Mumbuni Location- Machakos County, Kenya.
    (African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences., 2020) Waithima, Charity Wangui
    Drug use is one of major problems facing the Kenyan youths today. The main purpose of the study to investigate the role of parents in prevention of substance use among adolescents in selected public Secondary Schools in Mumbuni Location- Machakos County, Kenya. This study employed descriptive survey design. The target population was 3,336 Form three and four students enrolled in 20 public secondary schools. Systematic and stratified random sampling methods were employed to select 9 out of 20 secondary schools for the purpose of the study. Data was collected by use of researcher’s questionnaire guided by the research objective. The schools were stratified into three; boys, girls and mixed secondary schools. Data was drawn from 180 students and 100 parents and was analysed by use of inferential and descriptive statistics and presented using tables and charts. Chi-square technique was used to examine the relationship between parental mentoring and prevention of adolescent substance use. The study findings showed that the use of substances at home negatively mentored their children into substance use. Further, the study findings revealed that failure to set time to guide the children by parents had a negative impact in prevention of substance use. The study significantly showed association and positive correlation between negative parental mentoring and increased rate of adolescent substance use with the findings as (r=7.23, p=0.05 where r is the correlation coefficient and p is the significant level. The study concluded that students perceived that their parents mentored them into substance use. The researcher recommends more training; sensitization and awareness seminars and build rehabilitation centres to empower parents in prevention of adolescent substance use.