Citation

Bahl R, Kumari R. JK Science 2017; 18(4): 221-224.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out among rural and urban adolescents in one rural and one urban area of Jammu to assess prevalence of selected risk behaviours and mental health of rural and urban adolescents and make comparisons. A total of 4 rural Higher Secondary Schools (2 Govt & 2 Pvt) and two urban schools were chosen by lottery method. All the students from 9th-12th class present on day 1 of study in the selected schools were included after their consent. Depression, suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, possession of weapon, physical violence, tobacco & alcohol substance abuse. It was seen that the seven risk behaviours under consideration showed the similar trends in the two populations with slight variations in the proportions of prevalence except in case of Physical violence that was significantly higher in the urban population (Urban - n=123; 60.2% and Rural - n = 114; 48.3%; p value = 0.011). Among the symptoms studied, those suggestive of depression were more frequently seen among the urban adolescents as compared to rural adolescents (urban: n=68, 33.3%; rural: n=49, 20.7%; and that difference was highly significant. Suicidal attempts were reported by 2.4% urban and 2.5% rural students. This study shows that mental health issues like drug abuse and depression leading to suicidal ideation and attempts are gaining prominence among the adolescents in Jammu district and there is an urgent need to address this issue. © 2017, JK Science. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescents; Depression; Mental health; Suicidal tendencies; Suicidal thoughts