Abstract

This study investigates depression and learned helplessness as determinants of street hawking among adolescents in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State. This study adopted a descriptive research design of survey type. Three hundred participants were selected from three secondary schools in the metropolis using stratified sampling technique. The ages of the participants ranged between 11 and 24 years with a mean of 12.88 years (SD= 8.46). Three research questions were answered using multiple regression analysis and Pearson Product moment correlation. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between street hawking and depression (r = .315, n= 300, p <.05), Learned helplessness (r = .215, n= 300, p <.05). The two variables jointly accounted for 57.3% variance in the determinant of street hawking among the participants. The independent variables made a positive relative contribution to street hawking in the following order: Depression contributed most to the determinant of street hawking among secondary school adolescents in Ibadan (Beta= .987; t= 5.498;p<0.05) followed by learned helplessness (Beta= .144; t= 2.592;p<0.05). Based on this finding, it is recommended that family welfare policies and collaborative efforts from non-governmental Organizations, Civil Society Groups and community-based organizations be used to reduce depression and helplessness in children in order to reduce the rate of street hawking. Moreover, counselors should provide professional services that can help children overcome depression and learned helplessness.