Assessment of mental health status among adolescent school children in Karnataka

Abstract

India has the largest population of adolescents in the world (1/5th of world’s adolescents)with4-33% prevalence of mental health disorders. The present study was conducted to assess the mental health status of adolescent school going children in Karnataka.A cross sectional study was conducted among 375 adolescent school going children aged 10-15 years in a private school in Karnataka (June-August 2019). Students were interviewed by pretested questionnaire after obtaining informed assent from the school administrators and primary care givers. The questionnaire included 4 different domains viz., Educational, Physical health, Emotional and Social factors. Scores ranged between 0 – 41 and interpreted as higher the scores better the mental health status of student. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 24.Out of 375 participants, 48.8% were girls and 51.2% were boys with mean age of 12.7 yrs. Overall 12.5% students had abnormal mental health status, which was more among girls (15.4%) compared to boys (9.9%) and it was statistically significant (p < 0.021). Of 4 domains, physical health factor was most affected (17.3%), followed by educational factor (15%). Gender-wise, educational domain was most affected among boys (17.7%, p = 0.034) and physical health domain among girls (20.2%, p<0.001), which was statistically significant.This study shows that abnormal mental health status is prevalent among adolescents and more among girls. Of the 4 domains, Physical health was most affected. This problem needs addressal with well defined school-based intervention programs.