Depression and its sociodemographic, clinical correlates amongst adolescents seeking treatment

Objectives: Depression is a universal public health concern, and it stands as one of the illnesses having the highest burden for persons with mental illness, families and society. It has been observed that there is a rise in depressive disorders during the post-pubertal phase corresponding to the adolescent age group, which can be accounted for by various biopsychosocial risk factors. Material and Methods: The study aimed to find the relationship between depression among adolescents and their sociodemographic, clinical variables. A descriptive correlational research design was adopted for this study. Fifty adolescents who met the inclusion criteria were recruited using the convenience sampling technique. Data were collected with a sociodemographic questionnaire, clinical correlates questionnaire and Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale-11 questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Science 28 was used for the data analysis. Mann–Whitney test, Kruskal–Wallis test and Wilcoxon test were used to find an association between adolescent depression and its sociodemographic factors and clinical factors. Results: Analysis revealed clinically and statistically significant ( P < 0.05) associations between adolescent depression and their sociodemographic factors, such as nuclear family, education of parents and clinical factors such as family history of psychiatric illness. Conclusion: Depression amongst adolescents is a major mental health problem that significantly disturbs adolescents in reaching developmental and emotional milestones. This study observed that socio-demographic factors, such as a nuclear family, have a significant relationship with adolescent depression whereas adolescents whose parents are post-graduates have less severe depression scores. This study’s findings corroborated with research evidence that indicates a correlation between social and clinical factors among adolescents with depression. Clinically, the findings highlight the need for early screening for depression in adolescents, especially those from nuclear families or with family psychiatric history. Policymakers should strengthen school-based mental health programs. Future research should use larger, multi-centre samples to validate these associations.