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Article History

Received: 6 May 2025

Accepted: 2 November 2025

First Online: 22 November 2025

Declarations

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: The research received approval from the ethical institutional review boards of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda (368/CMHS_IRB/2023) and the School of Psychology, Cardiff University (EC.23.09.12.6843). All participants provided informed consent prior to taking part. Interviews were conducted by Rwandan Clinical Psychologists with training in qualitative methods and youth mental health. To safeguard participants, a clear protocol was followed if emotional distress or self-harm/suicide risk was disclosed during interviews: psychologists provided immediate support, completed a structured risk form, and, where necessary, referred participants to Geruka Healing Centre or facilitated referral to local mental health services. Appropriate support (e.g. assessment with offer for counselling, signposting to other relevant support) was provided. Participants were made aware of this process during the consenting process. This ensured participants were supported appropriately while contributing to the study. All data presented here has been de-identified. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee of human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.