A Study of Differences in Depression Anxiety Stress in Students in India

Depressive disorders often start at a young age. There is a need for early identification of depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS) and prevention. The present study was undertaken to find the magnitude of DASS among adolescents.Undetected and untreated mental disorders can impair a person’s ability to perform at school or work place, cope with daily activities of life and can lead to severe psychiatric disorders and consequences later in their life.Adjustment to school life for the first time can be a stressful experience for most school students. Because of the challenges faced when adapting to these life changes, school students are at risk for developing mental health issues. The development of symptoms of depression and anxiety can further aggravate and leads to difficulty in adapting to the demands imposed upon by academic pressures of different course. Adolescent by itself is a period of adjusting to the changes in one’s body and at emotional, cognitive and behavioral level. Mental health issues like depression and excessive anxiety can lead to difficulty in academics, relationships, and other important day to day life challenges. Aims: To find the health status of school going adolescents in India. The objectives were (i) to study the prevalence of DASS among publicschool going adolescents and (ii) to study the correlates of DASS. Settings and Design:A Cross-sectional survey of 14 years to 18 yearsstudents of four classes from 9th to 12th studying in public schoolsof Dwarka, New Delhi. Subjects and Methods:Fourpublic schools were randomly selected through lottery method. In each public school, for each of the four classes, a section was randomly selected again by the lottery method. Forty students were selected from public school reaching sample size of 500. Statistical Analysis Used: The data entry was done in MS Office Excel 2007. The analysis was done in the form of frequency tables, charts cross tables. For statistical significance, Chi-square test and correlation was found between various factors. Results: The prevalence of DASS was 65.53%, 80.85%, and 47.02%, respectively. Overall, comorbidity between depression and anxiety was 57.65%. Extremely severe depression was very less (3%). The prevalence of DASS was higher in females. For depression and anxiety, the peak age was 18 years.