M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Because of its prevalence, depression has been described as a common cold in communities all over the world. Thus, the primary purpose of this research study was to provide guidelines and support to help late adolescent boys suffering from non-clinical depression. The objective of this research had been successfully achieved. The late adolescent boys who were interviewed were identified by their educators and their peers as non-clinical depressed. The data were collected by means of observation and phenomenological interviews. The researcher followed a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual method. In the second chapter the researcher describes the research design and method of the research. The approach to data collection, analysis and report writing to achieve the goal of this research study are also indicated. The third chapter deals with the phenomenological interviews that were conducted and the central themes that have been identified and categorised. The fourth chapter indicates guidelines to help and support late adolescent boys suffering from non-clinical depression. The research ensured trustworthiness to the participants during the research process. The researcher gained the confidence of the participants by spending time with them informally. The researcher ensured credibility of the research study by audio-taping the interviews conducted with the participants. Thereafter, the independent coder was given the transcribed interviews. Thereafter a consensus discussion was held with the independent coder. The researcher ensured that the research study was credible, transferable, dependable and confirmable. Ethical measures were also applied throughout the research. The researcher ensured that the participants would not be harmed, either physical or emotionally. The researcher ensured the participants of their anonymity. He did this by giving the participants pseudonyms and he made sure that the setting was not identifiable. Ethical measures were also applied throughout the research. The researcher ensured that the participants would not be harmed, either physical or emotionally. The researcher ensured the participants of their anonymity. He did this by giving the participants pseudonyms and he made sure that the setting was not identifiable. The participants were also informed about the advantages and disadvantages of participating in the research. The researcher received informed consent from the parents of the participants and from the principals of the schools where some of the interviews were conducted. He also obtained assent from the participants. All participants were informed about their privacy, benefits, withdrawal and the procedure to be followed. The researcher found late adolescent boys experience positive and negative challenges concerning non-clinical depression. They also experience role conflict related to their home circumstances and that conversation with others help keep depression at bay. The researcher found that the causes of nonclinical depression of late adolescent boys are poor family relationships and dysfunctional families. Guidelines were deducted from these results.

This dissertation applies the life course framework to understanding gender differences in the connection between academic performance and mental health. The premise for this study is based on the paradox that girls perform better in school but get less of a boost to their sense of well being from their achievement relative to boys. The life course perspective focuses both on how different pathways, such as academics and mental health, intertwine and the need to study important transitions, such as the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. This research addresses this transition by considering the consequences of the gender paradox on college enrollment and persistence. The quantitative analyses utilize Waves I, II, and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results indicate that academic performance and depression were positively correlated for girls and negatively correlated for boys. Adolescent gender differences in depression are driven by the high achieving segment of the student population because girls tend to get less of a mental health boost from earning good grades across the board. This is especially pronounced in high school. The end result is a slight chipping away at the well-documented advantages girls have in postsecondary education. / text