Prevalence and Correlates for Psychosocial Distress Among In-School Adolescents in Zambia

Abstract

There is scanty information on correlates for psychosocial distress in Zambia. Secondary analysis was conducted using the data collected in 2004 in Zambia during the global school-based health survey to determine the prevalence and correlates for psychosocial distress. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate magnitudes of associations between exposure factors and the outcome, while the Yates’ corrected Chi-squared test was used to compare proportions at the 5% significance level. A total of 2257 students participated in the survey of which 54.2% were males. Males were generally older than females (p < 0.001). Significantly, more females than males were bullied (p = 0.036), involved in a fight (p = 0.019), and consumed alcohol (p = 0.012). Psychosocial distress was detected in 15.7% of the participants (14.4% of males and 16.8% of females). Age <14 years, male gender, parental support for males, and having close friends were protective factors against psychosocial distress. Risk factors for psychosocial distress were being bullied, involvement in a fight, alcohol consumption, being physically active, and parental support. The prevalence of psychosocial distress among adolescents in Zambia appears to be common. There is a need to validate the psychosocial distress indicators that were used in the current study.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Psychosocial Distress Among Adolescents in Beninese Schools in 2016

“…Leadbeater & al found that this phenomenon could be explained by the greater emphasis girls place on interpersonal relationships in comparison to boys [21]. Like Siziya & al [10], we did not find an association between gender and psychological distress in adolescents. This can be explained by the differences in the stress management strategies boys and girls use, as boys tend to be more detached from their emotions and difficult situations and to be more emotionally inhibited than girls [22].…”

“…Having close friends was a protective factor against psychosocial distress. This result was confirmed by Siziya & al [10]; close friends should always be there to share their concerns and this would avoid distress. For girls, our study showed the extent of psychosocial distress in rural areas; this can be explained by the social pressures still current in rural areas where girls are often minimized or forced to be quickly socially productive either by getting married or having income-generating activities.…”

“…The dependent variable was the psychosocial distress defined using four mental health indicators that were loneliness, anxiety, sadness or worry and having seriously thought about a suicide plan. This definition was based on previous researches on a population of similar schooled adolescents [9,10]. An adolescent who had answered "Yes" to at least 2 mental health indicators was considered under psychosocial distress.…”

“…Other authors, on the other hand, found higher prevalences than ours in school adolescents. These are Pengpid & al in Thailand in 2013 [9], Siziya & al in Zambia in 2015 [10] and Qorbani & al in Iran in 2014 [13] who reported prevalences of 16.9%, 33.5%, 15.7% and 67.7% respectively. The difference between the Iranian study and ours is that, in the former, seven questions were used to define the psychosocial distress among schooled adolescents assessing: uselessness, anger, anxiety, insomnia, confusion and sadness problems.…”

“…Respondents who had answered " Yes " to at least four of the seven elements were considered to be psychosocially distressed. However, the definition we used in the present study for psychosocial distress is the one used in Zambia and Thailand's studies [10,11].…”