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TO GAUGE THE PREVALENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH RELATED ISSUES AMONG SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH

Zabitkhan Naibzai, Dr Hafiza Sadaf Fiaz, Dr Amina Tariq

Background: Mental health issues reported among adolescents are less studied among areas where resources are scarce. Objective: The objective of this research is to examine the mental health occurrences among adolescent and correlate the outcomes with the school-going children while comparing rural and urban differences. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional research was carried out at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from September 2018 to May 2019 on children of (13 – 17) years of age. The total number of students was 693 which were studying from ninth to twelfth grade including both females and males. Mean health was evaluated through Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); where, three categories were used for classification including normal, borderline and abnormal with respective score range of (0 – 15), (16 – 19) and (20 – 40). We also evaluated related psychosocial and medical factors. The research was commenced after securing clearance from ethics committee. Results: The outcomes show that 15% of students presented higher score of SDQ. More emotional issues were reported among females; whereas, other mental issues were more prevalent among males. More mental health issues were reported among rural children than urban such as eye-related issues, failure rate, difficulties while studying at home and making relationship. Having friends and being physically fit was related to the normal score of SDQ. Logistic regression revealed that punishment, age and difficulty of discussing issues with parents and friends also increased the score of SDQ; whereas, after school entertainment, friends and watching TV reduced score of SDQ. Conclusions: One out of eight adolescent was prone to mental health issues. The modalities and risk identification are possible through SDQ and TSQ approaches. Keywords: School, Questionnaire, Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Adolescent, Physical, Homework and Punishment.

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