Influence of Parents’ Death on Psychosocial Wellbeing of Adolescents: Selected Orphanages in Nairobi, Kenya

Adolescence is a transitional period that everyone goes through after infancy. In adolescence, hormonal and physical changes take place which is evident in appearance of breasts in girls and beard in boys. Socially, the adolescents expand their social circle by spending more time outside family bounds, which disorients them. This is a critical stage of their life when parents are required to offer emotional support, guidance and mentorship. The demise of a parent at this delicate period may worsen the adolescents’ psychosocial wellbeing. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of parents’ death on the psychosocial wellbeing of adolescent orphans in selected orphanages in Nairobi, Kenya. The study was guided by these objectives: to explore the psychosocial wellbeing of orphaned adolescents after the demise of their parents and to explicate the effects of the death of parent (s) on the psychosocial wellbeing of the adolescent orphans living in the selected orphanages. The study used a qualitative research approach. The target population was 175 while the sample size was 10 comprising 6 adolescent orphans and 4 caregivers. The respondents were purposively selected while qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews and observation. The study found out that parental death disrupts adolescent orphans emotionally and socially. It also creates scarcity of the basic needs in the lives of the orphans forcing them to look for help from orphanages. The findings of this research may help parents to prepare in advance the future of their children. Further, the study established that the affected adolescent orphans need counselling especially grief therapy in order to restore their psychosocial wellbeing