Assessment of mental health status among adolescent school children in Karnataka

India has the largest population of adolescents in the world (1/5th of world’s adolescents)with4-33% prevalence of mental health disorders. The present study was conducted to assess the mental health status of adolescent school going children in Karnataka. A cross sectional study was conducted among 375 adolescent school going children aged 10-15 years in a private school in Karnataka (June-August 2019). Students were interviewed by pretested questionnaire after obtaining informed assent from the school administrators and primary care givers. The questionnaire included 4 different domains viz., Educational, Physical health, Emotional and Social factors. Scores ranged between 0 – 41 and interpreted as higher the scores better the mental health status of student. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 24. Out of 375 participants, 48.8% were girls and 51.2% were boys with mean age of 12.7 yrs. Overall 12.5% students had abnormal mental health status, which was more among girls (15.4%) compared to boys (9.9%) and it was statistically significant (p < 0.021). Of 4 domains, physical health factor was most affected (17.3%), followed by educational factor (15%). Gender-wise, educational domain was most affected among boys (17.7%, p = 0.034) and physical health domain among girls (20.2%, p<0.001), which was statistically significant. This study shows that abnormal mental health status is prevalent among adolescents and more among girls. Of the 4 domains, Physical health was most affected. This problem needs addressal with well defined school-based intervention programs.