Mental health of adolescent school children in Sri Lanka – a national survey

Objectives To assess prevalence of mental healthproblems in adolescent school children and measureimpact of such problems on their well-being.Method Study group was randomly selected from 14districts of 7 provinces. Participants completedvalidated self-assessment questionnaires, whichassessed symptoms of mental health problems andtheir impact on emotional, educational and socialfunctioning.Results 2007 adolescents aged 13-18 yearsparticipated in study. 18.9% showed an abnormalrange in emotional and behavioural parameters ofassessment schedule. 12.6% reported a definite orsevere impact of their difficulties. Most impact wasfelt in educational functioning (15.5%) and peerrelationships (12.4%). Males had significantly higherprevalence for mental health problems compared tofemales.Conclusions Prevalence of mental health problemsamong adolescents in Sri Lanka is similar to thatreported elsewhere in the world. Knowledge gainedcan be utilized for providing school and communitybased preventive mental health services.Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2004; 33: 78-81(Key words: Adolescence, epidemiology, mental health) doi: 10.4038/sljch.v33i3.642