A comparative study of factors influencing guidance and counselling helpseeking behaviour among public secondary school students in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties, Kenya

Abstract

Secondary school students are exposed to social, educational, vocational and psychological problems which they are unable to handle on their own. However, many students, instead of seeking counselling when they have problems, tend to keep them to themselves. This necessitated this study whose title was ‘a comparative study of factors influencing guidance and counselling help-seeking behaviour among public secondary school students in Nyeri and Nairobi counties, Kenya’. Some of the factors influencing counselling help seeking behaviour among secondary school students are student’s locus of control and problem severity. The purpose of this study therefore was to find out if the same factors influence counselling help seeking behaviour, among public secondary school students in Nyeri and Nairobi counties and also if the identified factors differ in the two counties. The study employed ex-post-facto causal comparative research design. Stratified random sampling procedure was used to select schools and students who participated in the study. The respondents of the study were 387 students from 20 public secondary schools and 36 teacher counsellors from the sampled schools selected using stratified and purposive sampling methods respectively. Data was collected through administration of two questionnaires; for students and for the teacher-counsellors in the sampled schools. In data analysis, the chi-square was used in testing hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings were; an internal locus of control was associated with a more positive attitude towards guidance and counselling, and also an increase in problem severity, increased the likelihood of seeking counselling.