Emerging Stressors and the Mental Health Burden on Kenyan Youth Amid Political Instability, Climate Change, and COVID-19

Background: Adolescents in Kenya face an escalating mental health burden amid intersecting global and local crises, including political instability, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, previous research has been limited in geographic scope and often overlooks how broader societal stressors beyond school influence adolescent wellbeing. Objectives: This study examined the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among Kenyan adolescents and investigated associations with exposure to political violence, climate change anxiety, and COVID-19-related stress.Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 5,592 students aged 12–23 years from 42 secondary schools across four Kenyan counties. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) to assess depression and anxiety, respectively. Separate cohorts completed measures of climate change anxiety and COVID-19 stress (n=2,856) or exposure to ethnic-political violence (n=2,727). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multivariate regression models controlling for age, gender, co-curricular activities, and parental education.Results: Overall prevalence of clinically significant depression and anxiety symptoms (cutoff ≥10) was 27.7% and 23.8%, respectively. Female participants reported higher rates in moderate to severe depression (25.2% vs 20.0%) and anxiety (24.0% vs 19.1%) categories; however, gender differences in reporting may reflect both differential symptom manifestation and greater help-seeking or emotional literacy among girls. Climate change anxiety and COVID-19 stress demonstrated the significant associations (p<.001) with both depression (r=0.31, r=0.19, respectively) and anxiety (r=0.40, r=0.26, respectively). Political violence exposure was widespread, with 52.5% reporting exposure to violent media content and 25% reporting discrimination; however, individual political violence items showed small to moderate correlations with mental health outcomes (r=0.12-0.22). Indirect or second-hand experiences of political violence—such as having a friend or family member affected—were strong predictors of depressive symptoms. Older adolescents and girls consistently reported higher distress across all stressors. Father's education showed protective associations with anxiety, while mother's education demonstrated mixed or positive associations. Conclusions: Kenyan adolescents are contending with multiple, overlapping stressors that compound mental health risks, with climate change and COVID-19 stress appearing as particularly salient contributors. Girls and younger adolescents appear particularly vulnerable. Addressing these challenges requires gender-responsive, school- and community-based interventions that integrate trauma-informed care, climate education, and media literacy, alongside longitudinal research to track the evolving impact of global crises on youth mental health.