Mental health disparities among youth living on the streets and in the slums of Kampala: Comparisons with representative national and urban school attending youth

Objective: This study examined the extent to which youth that live on the streets and in the slums of Kampala experience worse mental health than representative national and urban school-attending youth. Methods: Analyses were based on three cross-sectional surveys: 1. the Kampala Youth Survey (convenience sample of service seeking youth living in the slums; conducted in 2011; N=457); 2. The Global School-based Student Health Survey (nationally representative sample of school-attending youth, conducted in 2003; N=3215); 3. The Global School-based Student Health Survey (urban representative sample of school-attending youth, conducted in 2003; N=1,709). Analyses restricted to youth between ages 14-18, assessed the differences in prevalence of mental health indicators including having no friends, loneliness, worrying, sadness, suicide ideation and planning from the three studies using Chi-square tests. Results: The results from these comparisons indicate that high-risk youth differed markedly form urban and nationally representative youth on several mental health indicators (i.e., loneliness, worrying, sadness, and suicide ideation). However, no differences were observed between high-risk and other youth in terms of planning a suicide or in having no friends. Conclusions: High-risk youth living in the slums of Kampala had a significantly higher prevalence of several mental health indicators indicating dramatic disparities and grave concerns for their health. Given their already dire circumstances, increased mental health services and primary prevention efforts are urgently needed.