Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among male secondary school students in Arar city, Saudi Arabia, during the school year 2018

Background: Adolescence is characterized by rapid psychological changes. No data are available about psychological disorders among adolescents in the Northern Borders region of Saudi Arabia. Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress and its association with some risk factors among male secondary school students in Arar city; the capital city of Northern Borders, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the second semester of the school year 2017-2018. A sample of 406 male secondary school students was selected through a multistage cluster sampling technique. Out of 12 secondary schools, four schools were selected randomly then one class from each grade was also selected randomly. The participants were asked to complete a self-reported Arabic version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42). The data were analyzed by SPSS version 20, using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test of independence. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered, statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among 375 valid respondents was 56.3 %, 56%, and 41.9% respectively. The majority of symptoms were mild to moderate in severity. Out of all participants, 69.3% had at least one of the studied disorders; 50.9% had at least two disorders, and 33.9% had all the three disorders. The scores of depression, anxiety, and stress were positively and significantly correlated (r=0.7 p=0.001). History of the death of a close family member, family financial difficulties and smoking were significant risk factors for the development of any of the three studied disorders (p=0.019, p=0.012, p=0.001 respectively).