TITLE:
Rethinking Individual Characteristics in Positive Youth Development: Evidence from Secondary-School Adolescents in Kibra, Nairobi, Kenya
AUTHORS:
Catherine Wanjiru Naliaka Wafula, Teresia Wamuyu Wachira, Peter Koome
KEYWORDS:
Individual Characteristics, Positive Youth Development, School-Based Mentorship, Secondary School Adolescents, Kibra, Kenya
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
21,
2026
ABSTRACT: Many young people in Kenya grow up in settings where motivation, goal focus, and school connectedness develop with uneven adult guidance and limited structured support, yet these characteristics remain central to Positive Youth Development (PYD). The study examined the link between these characteristics and PYD of secondary school adolescents within school-based mentorship programs in Kibra Sub-County, Nairobi County. It utilized a cross-sectional convergent parallel design involving sampling of 451 secondary school adolescents from ten mentorship initiatives. Out of these, 349 of these responded to the questionnaire and constituted the quantitative sample. Data was also collected through the use of 15 focus groups and 10 key informants. Data analysis procedures entailed use of descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation and multiple linear regression. Results of multiple linear regression indicate that school connectedness predicts PYD most strongly (β = 0.32, p β = 0.21, p β = 0.184, p β = 0.113, p = 0.022) and spirituality/faith (β = 0.136, p = 0.002) predict PYD weakly. The model predicts 55.5% of the variance in PYD (R2 = 0.555). The qualitative results follow the same trend showing that motivation and faith emerge through the processes happening in school. The study finds that PYD among secondary-school adolescents in Kibra is mainly driven by school connectedness, collaboration, and goal-oriented behaviour, with motivation and faith playing supportive roles.