Prevalence & factors associated with depression among schoolgoing adolescents in Chandigarh, north India

Abstract

Background & objectives:Depression among adolescents is a rising problem globally. There is a need to understand the factors associated with depression among adolescents. This study was conducted to ascertain the prevalence of depressive disorders and associated factors among schoolgoing adolescents in government and private schools in Chandigarh, India.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 542 randomly selected schoolgoing adolescents (13-18 yr), from eight schools by multistage sampling technique. Depression was assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and associated factors by pretested semistructured interview schedule. Multivariate analysis was done to identify significant associated factors.Results:Two-fifth (40%) of adolescents had depressive disorders, 7.6 per cent major depressive disorders and 32.5 per cent other depressive disorders. In terms of severity, 29.7 per cent had mild depression, 15.5 per cent had moderate depression, 3.7 per cent had moderately severe depression and 1.1 per cent had severe depression. Significant associated factors included being in a government school, studying in class Xth and XIIth, rural locality, physical abuse by family members, alcohol use and smoking by father, lack of supportive environment in school, spending less time in studies, lower level of participation in cultural activities and having a boy/girlfriend. Significant predictors on binary logistic regression analysis were being in class Xth [odds ratio (OR)=5.3] and lack of self-satisfaction with own academic performance (OR=5.1).Interpretation & conclusions:Our study showed that a significant proportion of schoolgoing adolescents suffered from depression. The presence of depression was associated with a large number of modifiable risk factors. There is a need to modify the home as well as school environment to reduce the risk of depression.

Factors Associated with Depression among School-going Adolescent Girls in a District of Northern India: A Cross-sectional Study

“…In contradiction to the findings reported by Singh et al .,[27] depression was found to be three times higher among adolescents studying in private schools. This might be attributed to the fact that in Indian scenario, the study culture is more competitive and hectic in private schools when compared with government ones, which thereby leads to stress among students, and on a long-term it may indirectly lead to depression.…”

“…However, no such association has been observed in other previous studies. [13172729] In contradiction to that, some other previous studies had reported more depressive symptoms among students studying in higher standards and had accounted it to academic pressure. [43031]…”

“…The finding was similar to that of a previous study conducted at Chandigarh by Singh et al . [27] Meng et al . opine that adolescents from a rural background are more likely to have a poor family environment.…”

“…This finding is contradictory to the results of previous studies where no such association has been observed. [1327] The finding could be attributed to the fact that educated parents have a higher expectation from their children. Apart from that, they often try to indulge their children more toward academic activities, and often, much of their time of enjoyment/recreational activities get reduced.…”

The Role of Perceived Social Support on Academic Stress

“…Some studies showed the association of academic stress with suicide (Arun & Chavan, 2009), substance use (Leonard et al, 2015), lower subjective well-being, risky behavior (smoking and drinking) and lower quality of relationship with parents and peers (Lemma et al, 2014), higher risk of depression (Jayanthi et al, 2015). Similarly, if adolescent students were not satisfied with their academic performance and/or parental dissatisfaction, they were more likely for depression (Verma et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2017). Unfortunately, in the current situation, the COVID-19 pandemic has further affected the academic area of students and it may cause for the escalation of stress among the Nepali adolescent students.…”