Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known about depressive symptoms among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study aimed to identify the prevalence of depression and its association with self-esteem, individual, parental and family factors among adolescents aged 12 to 18 in UAE.MethodsSix hundred adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years were recruited from 4 of 111 schools in a cross-sectional study. We administered Beck Depression Inventory Scale and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale to measure self-report symptoms of depression and self-esteem. We used multiple linear regression to identify significant predictors of depression.ResultsOver 86% of the identified sample participated to the survey. The mean age of the sample was 14.3 (±1.3) with an excess of girls (61%). Depressive symptoms were detected in 17.2% (95% CI 14.2–20.7). There was an inverse relationship between self-esteem scores and depressive symptoms. Positive predictors of depressive symptoms, having controlled for age, gender, and ethnicity included experiencing neglect, being verbally abused in school, having no monthly allowance to spend in school, a history of physical morbidities requiring treatment, being a current or past smoker and a low family income.ConclusionThe high prevalence of depressive symptoms measured in this survey suggests a significant public health problem among adolescents in the UAE. Public health interventions aimed at facilitating education and early detection and potential treatment of depressive symptoms are a priority in the region.
Highlights
Childhood and adolescence is a critical time in the course of human development, beginning with the onset of sexual maturation and ending with the emergence of adult roles and responsibilities, influencing health and wellbeing that could last for a lifetime [1]
The disparity in the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the South Asian group is of concern as this group with other migrants account for 80% of the total population of the United Arab Emirates [53]
It is noteworthy that this prevalence is higher than the reported estimates for developed countries, ranging from 4.0% to 8.2% [49, 50]. It would be of interest in future studies to investigate whether this increase reflects the psychological effect of some of the challenges faced by these young migrants when moving to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or whether these symptoms or a degree of biological vulnerability were already present prior to leaving their native countries
Summary
Childhood and adolescence is a critical time in the course of human development, beginning with the onset of sexual maturation and ending with the emergence of adult roles and responsibilities, influencing health and wellbeing that could last for a lifetime [1]. During this period major structural and connective development of the brain take place including the neural circuits and systems responsible for emotional regulation and complex reasoning. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of depression and its association with selfesteem, individual, parental and family factors among adolescents aged 12 to 18 in UAE
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