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Article History

Received: 5 December 2024

Accepted: 16 March 2026

First Online: 6 April 2026

Competing interests

: The author declares no competing interests.

: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the University of Education, Winneba Ethical Review Board (UEWERB) under approval reference UEWC 30. Approval was issued on the 5th March 2024. The approval covered non-interventional research involving anonymous written narratives collected from senior high school boarding students in Ghana, including procedures for recruitment, data collection, confidentiality, and data management. All research procedures were performed in accordance with relevant ethical guidelines and regulations for research involving human participants, including the principles of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and applicable institutional requirements.

: Informed consent was obtained in writing from participants before data collection. Consent was obtained between 18th and 22nd March, 2024, during scheduled data collection sessions in the participating senior high schools. The consent process was led by the principal investigator and trained research assistants, who explained the study purpose, procedures, and participant rights using a standard information sheet. Consent was obtained from student participants who agreed to complete the written narrative instrument. Where participants were under 18 years, written assent was obtained from their legal guardians, housemasters and housemistresses before students participated. Participants were fully informed that participation was voluntary, that they could skip any prompt or stop at any point without penalty, and that their responses would be treated confidentially. The scope of consent covered participation, use of anonymised data for analysis, and publication of anonymised excerpts and findings in academic outputs. Because this was a non-interventional study using a written narrative instrument, participants were informed that they should not write their names, school name, or identifiable details, and that only participant codes (AG or AB plus number) would be used. Participants were informed why the research was being conducted, how the data would be utilised for research and publication, and that potential risks were minimal and mainly related to possible emotional discomfort when reflecting on personal experiences; support procedures were explained, including the option to stop writing or seek assistance from school counsellors.