Open AccessPerceived Stress among Adolescent School Students in Hubli: A Cross-Sectional Study
Author(s) -
Madhavi Gajula,
Dattatreya D Bant,
Geeta V. Bathija
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
national journal of community medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2229-6816
pISSN - 0976-3325
DOI - 10.5455/njcm.20210625054326
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , perceived stress scale , general health questionnaire , cross sectional study , scale (ratio) , distress , mental health , medicine , clinical psychology , psychological distress , government (linguistics) , stress (linguistics) , psychology , psychiatry , family medicine , psychometrics , geography , linguistics , philosophy , cartography , pathology
Background: Psychological morbidity in children and adolescents is high. The present study was done to assess the level of perceived stress and psychological morbidities among secondary school students.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 311 adolescent students in 9th and 10th classes of two government and two private schools in Hubli city, Karnataka. A validated and culturally adapted version of the 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and perceived stress scale (PSS-10) was administered with Cronbach's alpha of 0.74. coGuide software was used for analysis.
Results: Out of 311 students, 159 (51.13%) were males; 50.5% were from government schools, 72.3% were from 10th class while 27.7% were from 9th class. On assessment by PSS-10 scale, 11.9% had low stress, 63.7% had average stress, and 24.4% were highly stressed. According to GHQ scale, 43.4% had evidence of distress while 50.2% had severe psychological distress.
Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of stress among school students. It calls for regular assessment by trained psychologists. Integration of mental health services with school health services is the need of the hour.