Depression, axiety and associated factors among young people during the second wave of Covid-19 in vietnam

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted nationwide with a sample size of 9.781 participants in order to describe the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Vietnamese youth (15-24 years old) during a COVID-19 outbreak and associated factors. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was used in this study. Results showed that 10% of the Vietnamese youth exhibited mild to extremely severe depression and 15.6% reported mild to extremely severe anxiety. Particularly, 1% of participants reported having severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression and 2.6% having severe or extremely severe symptoms of anxiety. Being christian or of other marital status or living in urban areas or having near poor or poor household income were all associated with increased depression among young people. Meanwhile, youth who were female, of ethnic minorities, Buddhist, Christian, or single, lived in urban areas, had only an elementary education, or had near low or low household income reported more anxiety symptoms. Findings from this study call for appropriate interventions to improve the mental health of the young population, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.