Risk factors associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents in a small municipality

• Autor(a) principal: Bernardineli, Ademilson José
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Silva, Lincoln Luis, Araújo, Claudia Regina Marchiori Antunes, Pedroso, Raissa Bocchi
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/14315
• topic: Depression; Adolescent; Mental health; Small town.; Depresión; Adolescente; Salud mental; Ciudad pequeña.; Depressão; Adolescente; Saúde mental; Cidade pequena.

Introduction: World Health Organization projections indicate that depressive disorders in adolescents increase worldwide, with 10% to 20% experiencing mental health problems. In Brazil, studies show an average of 13.2%, thus considered a public health issue. For that, we sought to elucidate the risk factors associated with depression symptoms in adolescents who live in small cities. Methodology: Cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study with a quantitative approach. The data was collected from a sample of 324 students from the municipality of Marialva / PR - Brazil, through a sociodemographic questionnaire and a screening tool for depressive episodes, the PHQ - 9 (Patiente Health Questionnaire - 9). The analysis occurred by linear regression, correlation matrix and network analysis. Results: 64.2% had moderate to severe symptoms, with a higher prevalence in female adolescents, with 20.1% showing severe symptoms. The associated risk factors were longer use of cell phones; not going to parks; not playing sports; using legal drugs; and reporting anxiety diagnosis and family depression cases. Adolescents who play on their cell phone alone were 5.1 times more likely to develop depressive symptoms, and those who use drugs in groups, 5.5 times. The strongest negative connections were found between PHQ-9 and being female, not going to parks or areas of sports and leisure, and reporting family depression. Conclusion: The study suggests that small cities with inadequate and unfriendly urban structures may highlight the issue of depressive disorders in adolescents, which indicates the need for public policies to improve the prospects of this demographic.