Perceptions of Grade 10 to 12 adolescents on contextual situations that contribute to their psychosocial development challenges

Oct 15, 2026

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A qualitative study explored how South African Grade 10 to 12 adolescents perceived factors contributing to psychosocial development challenges at home and at school. Twenty-two learners completed an open-ended survey structured as a written interview. Thematic analysis identified two main theme groups: home life situations and school life situations, including financial difficulties, strained parent-child relationships, ineffective school leadership, teachers’ low enthusiasm, limited resources, and unsafe environments. Findings support psychosocial intervention via school social workers and cross-sector collaboration among education, social development and health, police, and NGOs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Findings

Discussion and Implications

South African Journal of Education, Volume 45, Number 1, February 2025 1 Art. \#2453, 11 pages, [https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v45n1a2453](https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v45n1a2453) Perceptions of Grade 10 to 12 adolescents on contextual situations that contribute to their psychosocial development challenges Gift Khumalo Centre for General Education, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa [giftk@dut.ac.za](giftk@dut.ac.za) Edmarie Pretorius Social Work Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Adolescence is a complex developmental stage with challenges that affect transitioning to adulthood. The success in managing the transition depends on personal capabilities, circumstances, and support systems. Contextual situations in adolescent development are understudied in developing countries. In this qualitative study, we explored what South African Grade 10 to 12 adolescents perceived to be the factors influencing their experience of psychosocial challenges at home and at school. Participants (22 Grade 10–12 learners) completed an open-ended survey structured as a written interview. Thematic analysis of the data revealed 2 main themes: home life situations (household financial difficulties, unfavourable living conditions, time-inflexible house chores, poor parent-child relationships, lack of support from families), and school life situations (peers’ inappropriate behaviour, perceptions of ineffective school leadership, teachers’ low work enthusiasm and commitment, insufficient school resources, unsafe and unfavourable geographical conditions) . The findings suggest a need for psychosocial intervention by school social workers at family and school levels to support adolescents in negotiating their psychosocial developmental transition to young adulthood. The departments of education, social development and health, the police services, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should collaborate to establish school programmes addressing learners’ disruptive behaviour and school safety concerns. Keywords: adolescents; contextual situations; learners; psychosocial development challenges; public schools Introduction Adolescence is a critical period for all children and profoundly influences and determines how they grow into young adults. Generally, adolescence can be divided into early (11–14), middle (15–17) and late (18–21) adolescence. Adolescents may have different developmental trajectories depending on their personalities (Calder & Huda, 2013; Plenty & Mood, 2016) . These developmental trajectories include transitional social roles and responsibilities, peer group relations, health-related problems, family dimensions, and socio-economic problems. Specifically, the home, school, and community environments are major life situations that influence adolescent development (Conger, Conger & Martin, 2010; Plenty & Mood, 2016) . These life situations may interact in complex ways to influence adolescents’ developmental trajectories. With this study we aimed to explore what South African Grade 10 to 12 adolescents perceived to be the factors influencing their experience of psychosocial challenges at home and at school. Literature Review Literature shows that an association exists between adolescents’ home environment, like the family’s low socioeconomic standing, dysfunctional family situations, culture, and family roles (George, A & Van den Berg, 2011), and psychosocial challenges such as school underperformance, mental health difficulties, and peer relationship problems that adolescents encounter during the developmental period (Letsoalo, Maoto & Chuene, 2018) . These home characteristics may directly or indirectly contribute to adolescents’ psychosocial development (De Wet & Odimegwu, 2017) . South African studies by Danhouse and Erasmus (2020) and Makiwane and Berry (2013) suggest that poor family functioning may be a result of the breakdown in parental relationships

FAQs

What was the aim of the study?

To explore what South African Grade 10 to 12 adolescents perceived as factors influencing their experience of psychosocial challenges at home and at school.

How were participants and data collected?

Twenty-two Grade 10–12 learners completed an open-ended survey structured as a written interview, and the data were analyzed thematically.

What were the two main themes identified in the results?

Home life situations and school life situations, covering issues such as financial difficulties, parent-child relationship problems, peer inappropriate behaviour, ineffective leadership, low teacher enthusiasm, insufficient resources, and unsafe geographical conditions.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Riley