International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, 400088, India.
Department of Population Policies and Programmes, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, 400088, India.
Community Ment Health J. 2020 Apr;56(3):383-392. doi: 10.1007/s10597-019-00452-2. Epub 2019 Sep 17.
India is the home of more than 253 million adolescents, which account for almost 21% of the country's population. In the recent past, there has been a rise in the prevalence of mental illness and maladaptive behaviours among adolescents living in slum populations, which are increasing at an alarming rate in many developing countries, mainly due to rural-urban migration, are characterized by poverty, poor housing, overcrowding, poor environment, and high prevalence of communicable diseases. This neglected population has become a major reservoir for a broad spectrum of adverse health conditions. Studies on the mental health status among adolescents in India are relatively scarce. The main objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of mental health disorder and its determinants among adolescents in slum settings in Lucknow, India; by using GHQ-12. The study used cross-sectional primary data which was collected in 2015-2016 from the adolescents living in various slums of Lucknow city. About 590 adolescents whose parents gave consent to participate were included in the study. Descriptive statistics, Chi square test and ordered logistic regression analysis (OLR) technique were used to assess the mental health. Reliability of GHQ-12 was assessed before performing the analysis which was found to be 0.79. Approximately, 33% of adolescents were found to suffer from severe level of mental disorder. The results of this study depicts that adolescents of age 12-15 years had more severe mental health problems compares to 16-19 years of adolescents. Females were more likely to suffer from severe mental health problems compared to moderate/normal mental health problems (OR 1.72; p < 0.001). Odds of severe mental health problems was significantly higher among Muslims (OR 1.66; p < 0.001) than Hindus. Thus, it was found that age, gender, education, caste, household economic status, media exposure and religion to be significantly associated with mental health problem. Government should provide a wide range of adolescent friendly health services (clinical, mental, nutritional, including counselling) in these slums for a better adolescent health outcome.
印度有超过 2.53 亿青少年，占全国人口的近 21%。在最近的过去，居住在贫民窟的青少年中，精神疾病和适应不良行为的患病率有所上升，而在许多发展中国家，贫民窟人口以惊人的速度增长，这主要是由于农村向城市的移民、贫困、住房条件差、过度拥挤、环境恶劣以及传染病的高发。这个被忽视的群体已经成为各种不良健康状况的主要来源。关于印度青少年心理健康状况的研究相对较少。该研究的主要目的是使用 GHQ-12 评估印度贫民窟青少年的心理健康障碍患病率及其决定因素。该研究使用了横断面的初级数据，这些数据是 2015 年至 2016 年在印度勒克瑙市的各个贫民窟中收集的。大约有 590 名父母同意参与的青少年被纳入了研究。采用描述性统计、卡方检验和有序逻辑回归分析（OLR）技术评估心理健康状况。在进行分析之前，评估了 GHQ-12 的可靠性，发现其可靠性为 0.79。大约 33%的青少年被发现患有严重程度的精神障碍。这项研究的结果表明，12-15 岁的青少年比 16-19 岁的青少年有更严重的心理健康问题。与中度/正常心理健康问题相比，女性更有可能患有严重的心理健康问题（OR 1.72；p<0.001）。与印度教徒相比，穆斯林（OR 1.66；p<0.001）患有严重心理健康问题的几率明显更高。因此，研究发现年龄、性别、教育、种姓、家庭经济状况、媒体接触和宗教与心理健康问题显著相关。政府应该在这些贫民窟为青少年提供广泛的、以青少年为中心的健康服务（包括临床、心理、营养咨询），以改善青少年的健康状况。
