Correlation of Clinical Depression, Anxiety and Academic Performance of Adolescents in Selected Secondary Schools in Kenya

Depression and anxiety are associated with lower academic performance among adolescents. In Kenya, up to 26.4% of school going adolescents have been reported to present with symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study aimed at testing the correlation between academic performance, clinical depression and anxiety among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Homabay County, Kenya. In a quasi-experimental study, nonequivalent pretest-posttest design was adopted to test correlation between clinical depression, anxiety and academic performance among the adolescents. Two schools were selected with one being the experimental group and the other being the control group. Data was collected from 126 adolescents who were screened for depression and anxiety symptoms using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and researcher generated questionnaire. Respondents aged 14-16 were 54% (68) while those aged 17-19 were 46% (58). In order to examine the relationship between depression and anxiety, and academic performance, bivariate analysis was employed. Spearman Correlation Coefficient was used to show correlation between depression, anxiety and academic performance. The study found that the correlation test between Y1 (depression) and µX (academic performance) using Distance Correlation Coefficient indicated a significant correlation (p=0.010). However, the correlation test between Y2 (anxiety) and µX (academic performance) was not significant (p=0.651). Moreover, µX (academic performance) was also used as predictor to test the dependence of Y1 (depression) and Y2 (Anxiety) in correlation. Depression and anxiety were found to correlate with academic performance which should be treated as a clinical concern for mental health service providers and secondary school heads.