Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Disorder in School Going Adolescents in a Rural Village of Central India

Objective:1. To study the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among school goingadolescents in a rural block.2. To study the factors affecting the depression, anxiety and stress.Study design: Study was conducted in adolescents of rural schools of Wardha Block. 120 students were interviewed using DASS-21 questionnaire and their response wasanalysed regarding assessment of the Depression, anxiety and stress score. On the basis of their response, they were classified as having the disorders and grade them as mild, moderate and severe. Their socio-demographic factors, addiction history, intimate friends history, domestic violence history was also taken to assess their contribution.Results: Prevalence of Depression was found to be 14.16%, anxiety disorder 68.33% and stress disorder 24.16%. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe depression is 8.34%,5% 0.83% respectively. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anxiety is15.83%, 41.67% & 6.67% respectively. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe stress is 18.33%, 2.5% & 3.33% respectively. The most common contributing factors are found to be domestic violence, bullying in school, substance abuse, not regular playing, lack of intimate friends, nuclear families and poor socioeconomic status. Conclusion: The psychological disorders are also prevalent in students of rural India, these needs to be addressed. Proper counseling sessions of school going adolescents should be arranged along with taking care of their mental conditioning. They should be trained to cope up their mental stress under guidance from their teachers and counselors.