Prevalence of depression symptoms amongst orphaned adolescents at secondary schools in townships of South Africa.

A cross-sectional, descriptive observational design was employed to determine the prevalence and extent of emotional and functional symptoms of depression among orphaned adolescents. The data is on the prevalence of depression, using the standardised Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI tool). The setting of the study was four randomly selected secondary schools in Tshwane North District of Gauteng Province, in South Africa. Tshwane North District is predominantly an urban township area with some areas being semi-rural.