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Introduction
Poor mental health is one of a major public health issue with an estimated lifetime prevalence of almost 16-18%. Among 11- 24 years old adolescents, it is one of the main causes of disability-adjusted life years. Adolescents who are affected by poor mental health such as depression and anxiety have an increased risk of substance abuse, suicide, and unemployment. Depression is also a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and obesity and more common among women than men. In adolescents, depression is marked with negative outcomes such as substance abuse, academic problems, impaired social relations, and high-risk sexual problems. Depression is estimated to affect more than 350 million people worldwide. Depression is characterized by a set of distressing symptoms and major depressive episodes that interferes with the normal functioning of individual daily life activities. The development of major depressive disorder can lead to impairment in both the occupational and social aspects of life. The large burden of this disease is associated with decreased productivity and increase mortality. Depression is associated with social, hormonal and psychological changes which can promote the adolescent vulnerability to mood disorder development ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Han</Author><Year>2017</Year><RecNum>323</RecNum><DisplayText>(Han, Olfson and Mojtabai)</DisplayText><record><rec-number>323</rec-number><foreign-keys><key app="EN" db-id="2s2s0zrapsf0pbe5efuvv20f9rszvx0sd2fe" timestamp="1574749696">323</key></foreign-keys><ref-type name="Journal Article">17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author>Han, Beth</author><author>Olfson, Mark</author><author>Mojtabai, Ramin</author></authors></contributors><titles><title>Depression care among adults with co-occurring major depressive episodes and substance use disorders in the United States</title><secondary-title>Journal of psychiatric research</secondary-title></titles><periodical><full-title>Journal of psychiatric research</full-title></periodical><pages>47-56</pages><volume>91</volume><dates><year>2017</year></dates><isbn>0022-3956</isbn><urls></urls></record></Cite></EndNote>(Han, Olfson, and Mojtabai). The global burden of disease study stated that depression is a major risk factor for suicide attempts. In adolescents, public health initiatives are important to decrease depression. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, depression is characterized by the presence of sadness, irritable mood, somatic and cognitive changes that influence the person's ability function. Depression is associated with weight gain or weight loss, diminished interests, the depressed mood for most of the day, diminished ability to think and concentrate, feeling of worthlessness and frequent thoughts of death. Many different factors play an important role in depression. It is also found from studies that determinants of major depression are unequally distributed between different social groups.
Literature review
The social and economic conditions during upbringing are also associated with poor mental health. In 2013, in the United States, there were almost 43.9 million adults, who were diagnosed with mental health problems. Studies have shown that almost 90% of people who died from suicide had severe mental health illnesses. The stigma that is associated with depression is one of a major barrier that contributes to the mental health care services underutilization. The major consequences of not seeking treatment lead to substance abuse, unemployment, high economic loss, disability, and suicide. Early identification of disease is important to help individuals with fast recovery. Many other barriers are associated with poor mental health-seeking behavior. Studies have linked stigma directly to not receiving mental health care ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Friedrich</Author><Year>2017</Year><RecNum>304</RecNum><DisplayText>(Friedrich)</DisplayText><record><rec-number>304</rec-number><foreign-keys><key app="EN" db-id="2s2s0zrapsf0pbe5efuvv20f9rszvx0sd2fe" timestamp="1574400234">304</key></foreign-keys><ref-type name="Journal Article">17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author>Friedrich, MJ</author></authors></contributors><titles><title>Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world</title><secondary-title>Jama</secondary-title></titles><periodical><full-title>Jama</full-title></periodical><pages>1517-1517</pages><volume>317</volume><number>15</number><dates><year>2017</year></dates><isbn>0098-7484</isbn><urls></urls></record></Cite></EndNote>(Friedrich). Studies have shown that a year of life lived with a disability is more in women age between 21-24 years old. In 2010, almost 3% of the disability-adjusted life years from ischemic heart disease and half of the DALYs from suicide were attributed to depression.
Thesis Statement
According to the WHO, adolescence is defined as a period of development and growth between ages 10- 19 years. Depression is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The most important consequence of depression is increased mortality that is related to suicide. It is found in studies that depressed individuals are 10 times more prone to attempt suicide as compared to those without depression. Studies have also found that 1 in 10 depressed individuals attempt suicide at some point in their life. Therefore it is important to determine the prevalence of depression among adolescents in two colleges of San Diego.
Objectives
To determine the prevalence of depression in adolescents
To determine the different symptoms that are associated with depression among young adolescents
Methodology
Sample
Three research strategies are present: qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method research ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Creswell</Author><Year>2017</Year><RecNum>537</RecNum><DisplayText>(Creswell and Creswell; Cooper)</DisplayText><record><rec-number>537</rec-number><foreign-keys><key app="EN" db-id="f9ftapsryxsf0lees9bpsaxezrxxpsfrdrzw" timestamp="1522954088">537</key></foreign-keys><ref-type name="Book">6</ref-type><contributors><authors><author>Creswell, John W</author><author>Creswell, J David</author></authors></contributors><titles><title>Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches</title></titles><dates><year>2017</year></dates><publisher>Sage publications</publisher><isbn>1506386717</isbn><urls></urls></record></Cite><Cite><Author>Cooper</Author><Year>2005</Year><RecNum>475</RecNum><record><rec-number>475</rec-number><foreign-keys><key app="EN" db-id="f9ftapsryxsf0lees9bpsaxezrxxpsfrdrzw" timestamp="1521906292">475</key></foreign-keys><ref-type name="Book">6</ref-type><contributors><authors><author>Cooper, Dale F</author></authors></contributors><titles><title>Project risk management guidelines: Managing risk in large projects and complex procurements</title></titles><dates><year>2005</year></dates><publisher>John Wiley & Sons, Inc.</publisher><urls></urls></record></Cite></EndNote>(Creswell and Creswell; Cooper). In this study, a quantitative approach and a semi-structured questionnaire will be used. This method is used because of the study nature and due to the use of this, a semi-structured questionnaire made of the close-ended questionnaire will be more appropriate. The close-ended questions will consist of MCQs, yes/no and Likert scale questions. It is stated that these questions will allow the respondents to answer questions with more precision and without any difficulty.
Research design
The research design is a plan by which a research study will be conducted. Research design can be exploratory, causal in nature and descriptive. This study will be based on a descriptive research design. A survey is used to find the current status of the present population. In this study, the questionnaire survey method will be utilized to collect quantitative data. This is more appropriate as this will also help in collecting data from the students regarding demographic information, symptoms, and depression.
Population and sampling
Population in the research study consist of a group of people from whom the researcher draws a sample. In the present study, the population will consist of students from two different colleges between age ranges from 15 to 19 years. In research, sampling will be carried out in two ways: probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In this study, non-probability sampling will be used due to its convenience. Permission will be taken by the ethics committee of the college. Consent will also be taken from heads of colleges, children, and parents. Parents and children will be informed that participation will be voluntary. Written informed consent will be taken.
Data analysis
Data analysis is one of the most important parts of any research study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used for data analysis. Informed consent is an ethical and legal requirement for research involving human participants. Participants will be told about all aspects of the study that are important to make a decision. Participant after studying each aspect of the study voluntarily confirms his/ her willingness to participate. The potential issues that I can face during this study are confidentiality and the bias in study results. To avoid these issues I will avoid careless mistakes in data collection and analysis. All the analysis will be done twice. Data of all respondents will be kept confidential.
Body
Depression has significant economic and social consequences. It is reported that the annual cost associated with depression was almost $84 billion in 2000. It is associated with increased utilization of health care resources. Studies have shown that depressed people lose 6 productive hours at work per week in comparison with 1.4 hours in non-depressed individuals. It is also reported that depressed individuals are two times more likely to be unemployed and are at increased risk of suicide. Depression is one of the most common causes of psychological distress, especially in western societies. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 18% of adults and 14% of adolescents experience the major depressive disorder in their life. In adolescents, depression is very common. It is shown in different studies that the lifetime prevalence of depression in adolescents is almost 15%. Among adolescents, successful treatment for depression has been found in the last few years such as behavioral and cognitive intervention, interpersonal psychotherapy and antidepressants. As compared to adults depression in adolescents is persistent and recurring. It is found in one study that 12% of adolescents will relapse in one year, 40% in 2 years and 75% in 5 years respectively. In adolescents, evidence-based treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal approaches are associated with potential benefits. It is one of the important public health priorities to prevent the onset of depression. Three types of interventions such as universal prevention, selective prevention, and population-level prevention are very effective in promoting positive mental health, including efforts to improve sleep quality, social support, diet, and exercise. Most of these interventions target adolescents. Although these interventions are very effective but have some limitations such as expensive, time-consuming and not available for a large population segment. Studies have shown that depression onset can be prevented in high-risk individuals but the dissemination and implementation of preventive programs have far been lacking in a community.
Conclusions
This study will be carried out to determine the prevalence of depression among adolescents and the symptoms that are associated with it. The quantitative survey will be carried out and SPSS will be used for data analysis.
References
ADDIN EN.REFLIST Cooper, Dale F. Project Risk Management Guidelines: Managing Risk in Large Projects and Complex Procurements. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. Print.
Creswell, John W, and J David Creswell. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage publications, 2017. Print.
Friedrich, MJ. "Depression Is the Leading Cause of Disability around the World." Jama 317.15 (2017): 1517-17. Print.
Han, Beth, Mark Olfson, and Ramin Mojtabai. "Depression Care among Adults with Co-Occurring Major Depressive Episodes and Substance Use Disorders in the United States." Journal of psychiatric research 91 (2017): 47-56. Print.
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