A pilot study of depression, stigma, and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help among Arab adolescents

Author(s):  
Latefa A. Dardas ◽  
Susan Silva ◽  
Devon Noonan ◽  
Leigh Ann Simmons

Abstract The Arab region has the largest proportion of young people in the world and many of the factors that contribute to the onset of depression. Yet, very little is known about the current situation of depression and its associated stigma in this region. The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain preliminary data examining clinically significant depressive symptoms, depression stigma, and attitudes towards seeking professional help for depression among a sample of Arab adolescents from Jordan. Cross-sectional data were collected from 88 adolescents attending public schools in Jordan using self-report questionnaires that were available in, or translated into, Arabic. Among the 88 adolescents, 22% reported scores suggesting mild depression and 19% reported scores suggesting moderate depression, while 24% reported scores suggesting severe depression. The most frequently reported depressive symptoms were changes in sleep patterns (76%), changes in appetite (63%), agitation (62%), and crying (61%). The majority (73%) had moderate depression stigma, and 43% had negative attitudes towards seeking professional help. Yet, 67% believed they would find relief in psychotherapy if they ever had a serious emotional crisis. Findings suggest that the prevalence of depressive symptoms may be high among Jordanian adolescents. Further, many of these adolescents may experience depression-related stigma that affects their attitudes and willingness to seek professional help. To determine the true scope of these issues, including the prevalence of depression among Jordanian adolescents, future research should obtain data from a nationally representative sample.

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1886.2-1887
Author(s):  
F. Ingegnoli ◽  
T. Schioppo ◽  
T. Ubiali ◽  
V. Bollati ◽  
S. Ostuzzi ◽  
...  

Background:The concomitant presence of depressive symptoms and rheumatic diseases (RDs) impose a considerable economic and social burden on the communities as they are associated with numerous deleterious outcomes such as increased mortality, work disability, higher disease activity and worsening physical function, higher pain levels and fatigue. Despite growing interest on depressive symptoms burden in RDs, current patient perception on this topic is unknown.Objectives:Italian patients with RDs were invited to participate in an online study gauging the presence and the perception of depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).Methods:This was a cross-sectional no-profit online study to screen the presence and the perception of depressive symptoms in RDs patients. All participants gave their consent to complete the PHQ-9 and they were not remunerated. Completion was voluntary and anonymous. The PHQ-9 rates the frequency of symptoms over the past 2 weeks on a 0-3 Likert-type scale. It contains the following items: anhedonia, depressed mood, trouble sleeping, feeling tired, change inappetite, guilt or worthlessness, trouble concentrating, feeling slowed down or restless, and suicidal thoughts. Patients were stratified as: <4 not depressed, 5-9 sub-clinical or mild depression, 10-14 moderate depression, 15-19 moderately severe depression and 20-27 severe depression. The survey was disseminated by ALOMAR (Lombard Association for Rheumatic Diseases) between June and October 2019.Results:192 patients took part in the study: 170 female with median age 50 years. Among respondents only 35 (18.2%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 68 (35.4%), moderate in 42 (21.9%), moderately severe in 30 (15.6%), and severe in 17 (8.9%). 16 (8.3%) of respondents declared to have depressive symptoms and 7 of 16 were under psychiatric therapy.Moreover, patients were grouped according to diagnosis.124 respondents had inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis). 23 (18.5%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 41 (33%), moderate in 26 (21%), moderately severe in 21 (17%), and severe in 13 (10.5%). Among them, 8 (6.5%) declared to have depressive symptoms depressed and 3 of 8 were under psychiatric therapy.49 respondents had a connective tissue disease or vasculitis. 11 (22.5%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 19 (38.8%), moderate in 13 (26.5%), moderately severe in 2 (4%), and severe in 4 (8.2%). Among them, 3 (6%) declared to have depressive symptoms and 1 of 6 were under psychiatric therapy.19 respondents had other rheumatic diseases. 1 (5.3%) was not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 8 (42.1%), moderate in 3 (15.8%), moderately severe in 7 (36.8%). Among them, 5 (26.3%) declared to be depressed and 3 of 5 were under psychiatric therapy.Conclusion:Our study confirmed that the overall real-life burden of depressive symptoms is relevant in all RDs. At the same time, these results highlighted that depressive symptoms are overlook by physicians and unperceived by patients since fewer that half of respondents (46.4%) had a clinical depression (PHQ-9>10). These results suggested that screening for depression should form part of the routine clinical assessment of RD patients.Acknowledgments:We thank the Lombard Association of Rheumatic Diseases (ALOMAR) for its contribution to design and disseminate the survey, the group that sustain systemic sclerosis (GILS), and the IT service of the University of Milan.Disclosure of Interests:Francesca Ingegnoli: None declared, Tommaso Schioppo: None declared, Tania Ubiali: None declared, Valentina Bollati: None declared, Silvia Ostuzzi: None declared, Massimiliano Buoli: None declared, Roberto Caporali Consultant of: AbbVie; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Lilly; Merck Sharp & Dohme; Celgene; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Pfizer; UCB, Speakers bureau: Abbvie; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Celgene; Lilly; Gilead Sciences, Inc; MSD; Pfizer; Roche; UCB


2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1025-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Schrader ◽  
Frida Cheok ◽  
Ann-Louise Hordacre ◽  
Julie Marker

Objective: To determine characteristics which predict depression at 12 months after cardiac hospitalization, and track the natural history of depression. Method: Depressive symptoms were monitored at baseline, 3 and 12 months in a cohort of 785 patients, using the self-report Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Multinomial regression analyses of baseline clinical and demographic variables identified characteristics associated with depression at 12 months. Results: Three baseline variables predicted moderate to severe depression at 12 months: depression during index admission, past history of emotional health problems and current smoking. For those who were depressed during cardiac hospitalization, 51% remained depressed at both 3 and 12 months. Persistence was more evident in patients who had moderate to severe depressive symptoms when hospitalized. Mild depression was as likely to persist as to remit. Conclusions: Three clinically accessible characteristics at the time of cardiac hospitalization can assist in predicting depression at 12 months and may aid treatment decisions. Depressive symptoms persist in a substantial proportion of cardiac patients up to 12 months after hospitalization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Mohammad Saiful Islam ◽  
Fahmida Akter ◽  
Shamima Parvin Lasker

A community based cross-sectional study was carried out by a self-structured questionnaire on 168 participants aged between 18 and 60 years at two arsenic prone area of Bangladesh to determine the association between extent of depression and socio-demographic as well as illness characteristics in arsenicosis population. The mean age ± SD was 42 ± 10.15 years. Female respondents were almost twice (63.1%) than the males (36.9%) in this study. Most of the respondents (94.0%) were shallow tube well water user. Among them most (80.0%) of the respondents were detected as arsenic contaminated water consumer over more than six months. Study estimated that almost half (44.3%) of the participants had suffered from mild to moderate depression in the moderate arsenicosis group. Less than quarter (20.8%) participants suffered severe depression in severe arsenicosis group. Quarter (26.7%) had mild arsenicosis with no depression. This difference was not significant. Gender had significant influence on proportion of level of depression. Females significantly suffered more from depressive symptoms than males. More than two third of the female respondents suffered from some kind of depressive symptoms; where less than one third of the males were suffered from depressive symptoms. Age has no significant relation with depression. Respondents who were 48 years and above age group had highest percentages of severe depressive symptoms (35.8%). This age group also suffered from highest percentage of mild to moderate depression (37.1%). Though most of the respondent (85.1) had no diabetes and hypertension. Respondents with physical illness suffered more from some sorts of depression than those without illness, but the result is not statistically significant. We understood that depression has health challenges in adult arsenicosis patients. Therefore, physicians should take account depression in their treatment management when deal with arsenicosis patients.


Author(s):  
Mrinalini Reddy ◽  
◽  
Pallavi Abhilasha ◽  
Thirunavukarasu Manikam ◽  
Rajkumar Ramanathan ◽  
...  

Introduction: Treatment adherence and illness may not be related only by the severity of the illness but by so many other factors which impact on seeking and continuing treatment; yet severity of the illness will be one of the major factors influencing treatment adherence. Methods: Female patients attending the psychiatric OPD, diagnosed with depression as per ICD-10 guidelines and provided informed consent participated in this questionnaire-based study. A total of 135 patients who attended the OPD in 9 months were assessed for the severity of depression and medication adherence by administering scales to assess the severity of depression and medication adherence was assessed by questioning about the drug taking and hospital attending behaviour. Out of this, thirty-one were attending for the first episode and hence were excluded from the analysis. Results: Out of the 104 female patients diagnosed with depression of more than one episode, 44 (42.3%) had mild depression, 52 (50%) had moderate depression and 8 (7.7%) had severe depression. Twenty-nine women (27.9%) were on medications and 75 (72.1%) women were not taking their medications. While greater proportion of women with mild depression were adherent to medication (51.7%), more women with moderate depression didn’t adhere to medication (54.7%), even though such difference was statistically not significant. Older age, having a paid work and married status were significantly associated with medication (antidepressants) adherence. Conclusions: Our results indicate that medication adherence is associated with factors other than severity of depression. Work and marital status played a significant role in determining the adherence to antidepressant medications among women.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-47
Author(s):  
Uzma Hassan ◽  
Naila Azam ◽  
Ayesha Farooq ◽  
Najm US Saqib Khan

Background: Depression is a common mental disorder, a reason of disability and can lead to suicidal tendency. It is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, causing more than 350 million, all age people suffering from depression. Medical Institute is a stressful and competitive atmosphere so the medical students have to make a lot of personal and social sacrifice to retain respectable educational grades. This pressure may result in an extensive range of psychological ailments like depression, tension and anxiety. Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression in medical students at Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over six months using the non-probability convenience method of sampling. Total 100 students from different classes of 1st to 5th year MBBS were included. A close ended questionnaire was used by interview method and response was noted against thirteen study variables related to symptoms of depression. The prevalence of depression in students was calculated based on the ICD-10 criteria; according to which they were categorized as "no depression" having less than four symptoms, "mild depression" having four symptoms, "moderate depression" having four to six symptoms and "severe depression" having seven or more symptoms. Results: Out of 100 students 55% students were suffering from depression: among which 15 % were having mild depression, 23 % had moderate depression and 17 % had severe depression. It was more common among female students, residing in hostels. Conclusion: The results depicted that there is high prevalence of depression in medical students, more among female students. This study sets an important groundwork for more elaborate and extensive future studies. It is recommended that the Institutes should have comprehensive educational programs, regarding preventive measures about mental health syndromes, and implementation of rehabilitative approaches in this regard.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andri Setia Dharma

Previous studies have shown that students often experience depression. Depression among students often stay unidentified due to no screening has been done. The aim of this study is to describe depression phenomenon in students of University X in Jakarta. A cross-sectional survey with self-competion questionnaire was conducted among active students in X University. Two-hundred and one student completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to measure depression. Result showed that 36.8% students indicated to have depression with further detail of 17.4% students with mild depression, 14.4% students with moderate depression, and 5% students with severe depression. The average score for BDI-II is 12.2 (SD = 8.11) with 0 minimum score and 37 maximum score. This result indicated that University X need to perform screening of depression on their students since there is still found students with depression. Students are encouraged to utilize counseling service provided by University X.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Li ◽  
Yang Xie ◽  
Shuman Tao ◽  
Yajuan Yang ◽  
Honglv Xu ◽  
...  

Objective: To describe the prevalence of chronotype and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students and to examine the association between chronotype and depressive symptoms.Methods: From April to May 2019, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,179 Chinese college students from 2 universities in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces. A total of 1,135 valid questionnaires were collected, the valid response rate was 98.6%. The questionnaire investigated age, gender, major, height, weight, only child status, living place, self-reported family economy, and self-reported study burden. The chronotype was assessed by the Morning and Evening Questionnaire (MEQ). Depressive symptoms and sleep quality were evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), respectively. A Chi-square test was used to examine the proportion of depressive symptoms among Chinese college students with different demographic characteristics. The generalized linear model was used to analyze the relationships between chronotype and depressive symptoms.Results: The proportion of morning types (M-types), neutral types (N-types), and evening types (E-types) of college students were 18.4, 71.1, and 10.5%, respectively. The proportion of mild depression, moderate depression, and moderate to severe depression of participants were 32.4, 6.0, and 4.2%, respectively. Compared to the M-types, after controlled for age, gender, major, sleep quality, self-reported study burden, father's education level, and self-reported family economy, depressive symptoms were positively correlated with E-types (OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.49–3.73).Conclusions: There was a significant association between chronotype and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students. Further longitudinal studies were needed to clarify the causal relationship between chronotype and depressive symptoms.


Healthline ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-79
Author(s):  
Saumya Joshi ◽  
Heer Patel ◽  
Nirmika Patel

Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic is a public health emergency with both physical and mental health risks. During this pandemic general medical complications have received the most attention, whereas only few studies address the potential direct effect on mental health of SARS-CoV-2 and the neurotropic potential. Objectives: To evaluate the depression score of an individual based on PHQ-9 scoring scale and to further classify the severity of depression among medical students. Method: It was a cross-sectional observational study, where primary quantitative data was collected using the PHQ-9 scale to assess the level of depression among the medical students of Gujarat through Google forms. Results: Most of the participants were from 1st year MBBS (>50%) and 2nd year MBBS (37%) and rest were from 3rd year. Around 29.4% students suffered from minimal depression, 34% has mild depression, 19% had moderate depression, 12% had moderately severe depression and 5.6% students suffered from severe depression. Conclusion: COVOD-19 pandemic is having impact on mental health of the medical students. Early evaluation of depression may help to decide intervention to reduce further depression among the students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
Kushalata Baral ◽  
Maginsh Dahal ◽  
Ganga Khadka ◽  
Anup Adhikari

Background: Depression is characterized by continuous low mood, feeling of sadness and loss of interest. To find out the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its associated factors among male prisoners in Dillibazar prison.  Methodology: A cross-sectional analytical design was conducted among 195 male prisoners of Dillibazar by using systematic random sampling. The self-administered questionnaire technique was used for data collection along with the standard Major Depression Inventory (MDI) tool of WHO for rating the level of depression. The data were coded, tabulated using Epi-data, the analysis was done by SPSS 16 version and chi-square test was done for the associations between the variables. Results: The overall findings revealed that the prevalence of depressive symptoms at Dillibazar prison was (45.6%). Among the total of (45.6%) with depression, (28.2%) of them met the criteria of severe depression, (6.7%) of moderate depression while rest (10.8%), met the criteria of mild depression. It was found that the duration of stay in prison, history of alcoholism, history of smoking, frequency of disputes is not statistically significant with depression and history of past illness, history of drug abuse and depression was found a statistically significant association with p-values less than 0.05 at 5% level of significance. Conclusion: This will be an initial step towards drawing the attention of the authorities towards the value of mental health among prisoners in Nepal.


2022 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Lutfi Sarhan ◽  
Shahenaz Modallal ◽  
Fayez Azez Mahamid ◽  
Denise Ziya Berte

Abstract Background Thalassemia is a condition that causes the human body to destroy red blood cells faster than they can be made. It causes physical symptomology as well as psychological distress. The current study aimed to identify the prevalence of depression symptoms among individuals with moderate to severe thalassemia. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was applied utilizing the Beck Depression Inventory to assess the level of depression in the sample. Results Some significant relationships were demonstrated in the sample: males reporting severe depression symptoms than females by 6.0 times (95% CI 0.07–0.62, p 0.014), and reporting moderate depression symptoms (95% CI 0.00–0.47, p 0.05). Additionally, income was found to be a predictor of level of depression symptoms with low income reported higher incidence of severe depression symptoms than those whose monthly income was > 400$ by 18.4 times (95% CI 0.38–1.03, p ≤ 0.001), but not reporting a significant association between moderate depressive symptoms and monthly income (95% CI − 012–1.47, P 0.225). A significant association was found between the educational attainment and level of depression symptoms with lower levels of education predicting higher levels of severe depression symptoms (95% CI 0.069–0.89, p 0.022), but no significant association was reported between moderate depression symptoms and educational attainment (95% CI − 0.49–0.01, p 0.81). Related to disease characteristics a relationship was confirmed between severe depressive symptoms and medication level such as the individual needing tablets or pumps (95% CI 0.189–1.05, p 0.005 and 95% CI 0.52–1.44, p 0.001) respectively. Other disease related variables showed no significant correlation with depressive symptom levels. Additional significant relationships were found in environment whereas increased moderate depressive symptoms were experienced by individuals residing in rural areas as opposed to those living in IDP camps or cities by 4 times (95% CI − 0.30–0.01, p 0.04), but no significant association was found between severe depression and the place of residence. The other independent variables had no significant correlation with severe or moderate depressive symptoms. Conclusion In light of these findings addressing symptoms of depression directly and supporting patients with thalassemia with basic life needs unrelated to their disease maybe mitigating depressive symptoms which may negatively affect recovery.


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