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

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.