Psychological Distress and its Correlates in Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

Severe psychological distress is prevalent in the Chinese adolescent population. Family dysfunction, higher academic pressure, poor relationship with others and negative self-perception are important risk factors associated with psychological distress in adolescents. More studies using the K10 scale are needed so that national and international comparisons can be made.

Epidemiology of Psychological Distress

“…Number of contact have no effect on psychological distress among seniors (Cairney and Krause 2005) whereas perceived social support, are associated with a decrease distress. The protective effect of higher income and education against psychological distress has been confirmed in most studies for women and for men, for all age groups and across countries (Caron and Liu 2011, Chittleborough et al 2011, Huang et al 2009, Jorm et al 2005, Nemeroff, Midlarsky, and Meyer 2010, Walters, McDonough, and Strohschein 2002. There is some evidence that education might interact in the relationships between psychological distress and income or disability.…”

An epidemological study of obsessive compulsive disorder in adolescents from India

“…It has been used to assess psychological distress in adolescents [41]. The tool has been validated to screen for common mental disorders in developing country settings [42] and has previously been used in India [43].…”

Reliability and validity of K10 and K6 in screening depressive symptoms in Hong Kong adolescents

“…Few studies have been conducted with Chinese samples. Huang, Xia, Sun, Zhang, and Wu (2009) and Zhou, Chu, and Wang (2008) used K10 to measure psychological distress in adolescents and university students, respectively. However, the participants resided in the northern part of Mainland China, a social and economic context different from that of Hong Kong.…”