Abstract

Background and Aim: Depression is a condition that affects the quality of life of a considerable proportion of young people. From an individual perspective, depression might lead to social underperformance, violence, drug abuse, and suicide in adolescents. It is the felt need to understand the neurophysiological basis of depression among adolescents, who are living through crucial stages of their own psychological development. Our research aimed to study the prevalence of depression and its sociodemographic correlates among adolescent high school students.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study done on adolescent school children in Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. A pre-structured, pre-validated Questionnaire (PHQ-A) was used to collect the data and analyze the information.

Results: Almost half of the adolescent participants had depression (49.5%). The associated factors for adolescents that were prominent were poor academic performance translated by the grade point average, low monthly income, smoking, and bullying.

Conclusion: Depression is quite prevalent among this age group. It is widely underestimated and hence should receive specific attention as it can lead to devastating mental and even physical consequences.

Key words: Depression, mental illness, adolescents, school children, psychological problems, Saudi Arabia