How Perceptions of Their Environment Influences Northern Ugandan Children’s Well-Being

• In Event: Educational Environments and Child Development in Low-Income Contexts

Abstract

Life for kids in northern Uganda is challenging. Since 2006, the area has been slowly recovering from a 30-year civil war (Dolan, 2009). While access to primary schooling is universal, kids face numerous challenges when it comes to receiving quality education (UNICEF, 2015). Most notably, teachers are often poorly educated (Torrente et al., 2015), resources are scarce (UNICEF, 2016.), and abuse of students is common (UNICEF, 2015). Research suggests that kids’ exposure to these negative environments leads to higher levels of distress and psychological health problems (Murray-Harvey, 2010) that often result in poorer academic outcomes (McMahon, Wensman, & Rose, 2009).
Considering this, authors Cohen and Wills (1985) highlight the role that social supports play in mitigating these effects. Studies have linked such supports to positive outcomes such as competency (Demir & Levendecker, 2018), psychological well-being and life satisfaction (Morgan et al., 2011), and coping with life stress (Cohen & Wills). However, most data have been collected in developed countries: Less is known of what happens in developing countries. Our purpose was to study the impact that negative environments have on northern Ugandan kids’ psychological well-being and academic performance, and whether social supports mediate these relationships. Previous work with this population suggests they do (Mitchell & Matsuba, 2020). This study was to verify past findings with a larger sample.
We sampled 276 students from two schools in Gulu District, northern Uganda. Students came from Grades 5 to 7, (M = 12.82 years; SD = 1.78 years; 50% females). Students were given self-report questionnaires (NIH Toolbox; Gershon et al., 2013) on scales ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always) (α’s > .70). Those questionnaires that were highly correlated (see Table 1) formed the following latent constructs: Negative Affect (Fear, Sadness, Anger), Perceived Social Support (Emotional Support, Friendship) and Perceived Negative Environment (Perceived Rejection, Perceived Hostility). The questionnaires were assessed four months apart at the beginning of the first (T1) and second (T2) terms in a 3-term academic year. Students’ academic performance, a single indicator, was based on the mean percent scores averaged across the subjects of English, Math, Sciences, and Social Studies.
To test the relationships between our variables, a structural equation model was created with Negative Affect and Perceived Social Support at T2 with Negative Environment at T1 and T2 as predictors of Academic Performance (see Figure 1). The model was a good fit, χ2(28) = 65.87, p < .001; CFI = .97, RMSEA = .07. While Negative Environment T1 was not directly related to Negative Affect T2, Negative Environment at T1 had an indirect positive effect on Negative Affect (β = .43, p = .002), which was mediated through Negative Environment T2. Social Supports played no mediatory role in this relationship; however, Social Supports did mediate the effects of Negative Environment T1 on Academic Performance (β = -.13, p = .005). The results are discussed in the context of the negative learning conditions for students in post-conflict northern Uganda.

Authors

• Connor Mitchell, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  Presenting Author

• M. Kyle Matsuba, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  Non-Presenting Author