Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia.
<h4>Aims</h4>This study aims to assess the dynamics of in-school adolescents' mental health problems in Harari regional state, eastern Ethiopia for a year.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Using multistage sampling technique, we conducted a year-long longitudinal study at th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300752&type=printable |
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| author | Gari Hunduma Yadeta Dessie Biftu Geda Tesfaye Assebe Yadeta Negussie Deyessa |
| author_facet | Gari Hunduma Yadeta Dessie Biftu Geda Tesfaye Assebe Yadeta Negussie Deyessa |
| author_sort | Gari Hunduma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Aims</h4>This study aims to assess the dynamics of in-school adolescents' mental health problems in Harari regional state, eastern Ethiopia for a year.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Using multistage sampling technique, we conducted a year-long longitudinal study at three public high schools between March 2020 and 2021. Three hundred fifty-eight in-school adolescents were chosen by systematic random sampling for the baseline assessment, and 328 completed the follow-up assessment. We used self-administered, adolescent version of SDQ-25 Questionnaire to collect the data. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test and McNemara's Chi-squared tests were used to examine the median difference and distribution of mental health problems between times one and two. Random-effects logistic regressions on panel data was used to identify factors associated with mental health problems. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.<h4>Results</h4>The magnitude of overall mental health problems at baseline assessment was 20.11% (95% CI: 16-25), with internalizing problems accounting for 27.14% (95% CI: 23-32) and externalizing problems accounting for 7.01% (95% CI: 4.6-10.3). At the follow-up assessment, these proportions rose to 22.56% (95% CI, 18-27) for overall problems and 10.3% (95% CI, 7.7-14.45) for externalizing problems. On other hand, internalizing problems decreased unexpectedly to 22.86% (95% CI, 18.6-27.7) at follow-up assessment. Internalizing problem scores at time two were significantly lower than baseline among older adolescents, girls and those with average wealth index in our study cohort.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The prevalence of mental health problems were high among the study cohort. The proportion of overall problems and externalizing problems has increased over time, indicating a deterioration in the mental health of the study cohort. However, the decrease in internalizing problems among older adolescents, girls, and those with an average wealth index is a positive sign. The findings highlight that tailored interventions are required to reduce externalizing problems and maintain the decrease in internalizing problems. These interventions should target middle-aged and male adolescents from low-income families. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T06:03:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8c344a328f07461198f08aac242b3af5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T06:03:13Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-8c344a328f07461198f08aac242b3af52024-04-23T05:31:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01194e030075210.1371/journal.pone.0300752Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia.Gari HundumaYadeta DessieBiftu GedaTesfaye Assebe YadetaNegussie Deyessa<h4>Aims</h4>This study aims to assess the dynamics of in-school adolescents' mental health problems in Harari regional state, eastern Ethiopia for a year.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Using multistage sampling technique, we conducted a year-long longitudinal study at three public high schools between March 2020 and 2021. Three hundred fifty-eight in-school adolescents were chosen by systematic random sampling for the baseline assessment, and 328 completed the follow-up assessment. We used self-administered, adolescent version of SDQ-25 Questionnaire to collect the data. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test and McNemara's Chi-squared tests were used to examine the median difference and distribution of mental health problems between times one and two. Random-effects logistic regressions on panel data was used to identify factors associated with mental health problems. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.<h4>Results</h4>The magnitude of overall mental health problems at baseline assessment was 20.11% (95% CI: 16-25), with internalizing problems accounting for 27.14% (95% CI: 23-32) and externalizing problems accounting for 7.01% (95% CI: 4.6-10.3). At the follow-up assessment, these proportions rose to 22.56% (95% CI, 18-27) for overall problems and 10.3% (95% CI, 7.7-14.45) for externalizing problems. On other hand, internalizing problems decreased unexpectedly to 22.86% (95% CI, 18.6-27.7) at follow-up assessment. Internalizing problem scores at time two were significantly lower than baseline among older adolescents, girls and those with average wealth index in our study cohort.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The prevalence of mental health problems were high among the study cohort. The proportion of overall problems and externalizing problems has increased over time, indicating a deterioration in the mental health of the study cohort. However, the decrease in internalizing problems among older adolescents, girls, and those with an average wealth index is a positive sign. The findings highlight that tailored interventions are required to reduce externalizing problems and maintain the decrease in internalizing problems. These interventions should target middle-aged and male adolescents from low-income families.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300752&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Gari Hunduma Yadeta Dessie Biftu Geda Tesfaye Assebe Yadeta Negussie Deyessa Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. PLoS ONE |
| title | Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. |
| title_full | Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. |
| title_fullStr | Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. |
| title_short | Mental health dynamics of adolescents: A one-year longitudinal study in Harari, eastern Ethiopia. |
| title_sort | mental health dynamics of adolescents a one year longitudinal study in harari eastern ethiopia |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300752&type=printable |
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