Incidence of mental health issues and its association with socio-demographic factors among youth in Meerut city

Abstract

Background: Poor mental health in school-going students has been reported worldwide. Mental health is important for people belonging to all age groups, especially the youth as it play a major role in their studies and future goals.Objective: The purpose of this survey estimate the prevalence of mental health issues like Depression Anxiety and Stress among school-going children who have studied in government schools and the association of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DAS) with socio-demographic characteristics.Methods: This study is conducted in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. A self-structured questionnaire for the socio-demographic factors and DASS-42 scale is used to assess the level of DAS. The sample age group taken is between 15 – 18 years.Results: The sample size was 180 students, 111 of the participants were male (61.66%) and 69 of the participants were female (38.34%). Results indicate that the incidences of DAS were reported 56.11%, 77.78% and 63.33% respectively. Anxiety scores were significantly higher than Depression and Stress. A positive correlation is reported between Depression & Anxiety was higher (0.588) as compared to Depression & Stress (0.557) and Anxiety & Stress (0.484). Depression was significantly associated with age (p=0.023), gender (p=