Recommendations on Counseling psychologists and guidance and counseling teachers in
secondary schools
Counseling psychologists and guidance and counseling teachers in secondary schools should
place a greater emphasis on aiding adolescents in dealing with mental health issues. According to
the findings of the current study, adolescents in secondary schools are dealing with mental health
concerns. However, most schools' mental health services appear to be disorganized or
undervalued. As a result, guidance and counseling teachers or school counselors should devote
enough time to addressing students' psychological well-being.
Principals, instructors, and parents in private secondary schools should collaborate to govern the
academic expectations they have for their students. The study's findings demonstrated that
academic expectations of parents, instructors, and teenagers were all strongly felt. Parents place
unrealistic expectations on their children, and schools set goals that might overwhelm
adolescents, according to some of the guidance and counseling teachers interviewed. As a result,
teachers and parents must collaborate to ensure that teenagers in private secondary schools do
not have unhealthy academic expectations.
Adolescents should create realistic goals and speak up about their troubles if they are having
mental difficulties. The outcomes of this study demonstrated that teenagers in private secondary
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schools are experiencing psychological distress symptoms and have set goals for themselves in
terms of how well they expect to accomplish academically. The study also found a moderately
positive association between self-academic aspirations and psychological distress, but a weak
positive relationship between parents and teachers' academic expectations and psychological
distress. As a result, the researcher advises adolescents to be judicious in defining their academic
goals and to seek out support systems or mental health specialists if they are experiencing
emotional difficulties, particularly when it comes to their academic successes.
Ministry of education should come up with policies to regulate academic expectations in private
schools and proper structured facilities to support adolescents struggling with mental health
challenges during their schooling period. The finding of the study brought out clearly that there
was academic expectations from different sources which included parents, teachers and self, and
that the adolescents were struggling with psychological distress due to these expectations and
other factors, therefore, the ministry of education should give more attention to this two aspects
in ensuring that adolescents were in a safe environment during their academic period.
Finally, it is hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to scientific knowledge and add
to the existing literature on the academic expectations and psychological distress among
adolescents in secondary schools in understanding why adolescents in their schooling period are
struggling with mental health challenges
5.5 Recommendations for Further Research
This study only investigated the relationship between academic expectations and psychological
distress among adolescents in private secondary school in Nairobi County Kenya. Further
research could be carried out on the following areas.
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A correlation study between public and private schools on the prevalence of psychological
distress in relation to academic expectations that the adolescents are exposed to in Kenya. This is
because the current study brought out that there is significant relationship between psychological
distress and academic expectations in private secondary schools, therefore a further student to
compare the levels of significance between of these variables in private and public schools.
Career aspirations and psychological distress among adolescents in private secondary schools in
Nairobi County Kenya. This is because from the finding of the current study self–academic
expectations seemed to be on the higher side in contributing to the psychological distress that the
adolescents experienced. Hence the need to give more attention on different personal aspects that
may contribute to psychological distress among the adolescents.
Effectiveness of Counseling services on psychological distress that adolescents experience due to
academic expectations in private secondary schools in Kenya. The guidance and counseling
teachers in private secondary schools seem to be providing counseling in general without
identifying appropriate strategies for different issues that adolescents are exposed to.
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