Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Among High School Adolescent Girls in Southern Uganda
Abstract BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely than boys to have depressive disorders. Understanding adolescents’ unique and common vulnerabilities and protective factors is essential for the development of appropriate interventions and programming focused on child and adolescent mental health. This paper examines the prevalence and predictors of depressive symptoms among high school adolescent girls in southern Uganda.MethodsBaseline data from 1260 adolescent girls (14–17 years), recruited from 47 secondary schools were utilized. Depressive symptoms were estimated using the 21-item Beck’s Depression Inventory. Hierarchical linear regression modelling was utilized to estimate key predictors of depressive symptoms among adolescent girls.ResultsOf the total sample, 16.35% (n = 206) reported severe depressive symptoms and almost one in every three adolescent girls interviewed (29.68%, n = 374) reported moderate symptoms. These symptoms were more prevalent among older adolescents (16 years and above). In addition, family relationships, social support, as well as measures of psychological wellbeing (self-concept and self-esteem) were all associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Hopelessness was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms among adolescent girls.ConclusionFindings from this study contribute to the limited literature on the prevalence of depressive symptoms among adolescent girls. Given that depressive symptoms tend to increase during later adolescence, our findings support increasing calls for early screening and detection of poor mental health functioning to facilitate timely referral to care and treatment. Findings may also inform the development and incorporation of gender-specific mental health components in programming targeting adolescent girls, in low-resource communities in SSA.Trial Registration:This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (registration number: NCT03307226) on 11 October 2017.