Stress, anxiety, and depression among adolescent students of public schools in Kathmandu

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a period characterized by changes in emotion, perception, cognition, and judgment which may adversely affect their mental health. This study aimed to find out the prevalence and associated factors of stress, anxiety, and depression among adolescent students of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Methods: We used a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study included 411 adolescent students aged 14 to 19 years from six randomly selected public schools of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21(DASS-21) was administered to the students to identify the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress. Logistic regression analysis was performed to find out the associated factors of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Results: The prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression was 27.5%, 56.9% and 41.6% respectively. Factors associated with stress were being female, high academic pressure, and abuse. The factor associated with anxiety was high academic pressure and factors associated with depression were being female, high academic pressure and witnessed/exposed to domestic violence.

Conclusion: Depression, anxiety, and stress are common among school adolescents. Academic pressure was a major factor of depression, anxiety, and stress. Adolescent girls were more prone to develop stress, and depression compared to adolescent boys