The Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Adolescents in Secondary Schools in Imenti South Sub- County in Meru County

Over the last few decades, the well-being of adolescents has received increased attention and interest from researchers and policymakers, who have attempted to find solutions to adolescents' mental health issues using other variables, geographical location, and design methods. Few studies have been conducted in Africa, particularly in Kenya, looking into childhood adversity as one of the contributing factors to the decline in emotional well-being among adolescents. The study's goal was to determine the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences among adolescents in secondary schools in Imenti South Sub-County, Meru County. The study was founded on ecological system theory. The study used a convergent parallel mixed method design to investigate the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among 368 adolescents attending seven public secondary schools in Imenti South Sub-County, Meru County, Kenya. The study found that the most common ACEs were separation/divorce (39.3%), emotional neglect (34.9%), and household substance abuse (27.8%), with emotional experiences having the highest mean score (0.2653) and sexual abuse having the lowest (0.1390). The study concluded that the adolescent respondents had experienced ACEs and suggested that the Ministry of Education hire practicing counsellors and psychologists to help students with their emotional well-being. Keywords: Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adolescents, Secondary Schools, Imenti South Sub- County, Meru County