TY - JOUR
T1 - The intersection of adolescent depression and peer violence
T2 - baseline results from a randomized controlled trial of 1752 youth in Pakistan
AU - Asad, Nargis
AU - Karmaliani, Rozina
AU - McFarlane, Judith
AU - Bhamani, Shireen Shehzad
AU - Somani, Yasmeen
AU - Chirwa, Esnat
AU - Jewkes, Rachel
N1 - Funding Information:
This document is an output from the What Works to Prevent Violence: A Global Programme which is funded by the UK Aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The funding was managed by the South African Medical Research Council. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them. The authors thank all the children and their parents who agreed to participate in the research and the Right To Play intervention, the schools which hosted Right To Play and their teachers, the Sindh and Hyderabad Education Departments who have supported this study and the Right To Play staff, coaches, and volunteers who have been helpful. The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
PY - 2017/11
Y1 - 2017/11
N2 - Background: Depression and peer violence are global issues impacting youth. We are presenting baseline data as part of a cluster randomized control trial underway, on adolescent depression, and associated factors among boys and girls in schools. Method: Cluster randomized control trial is underway for measuring the effectiveness of school-based play intervention program of the NGO Right to Play, in a sample of 1752 grade 6 youth in 40 public schools of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Students responded to Child Depression Inventory (CDI-2), the Peer Victimization Scale (PVS), the Peer Perpetration Scale (PPS), and investigator-driven seven-item School Performance Scale. Results: We report baseline assessments to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, and associated occurrence of peer perpetration and victimization. Boys report significantly more depressive symptoms as well as perpetration and victimization compared to girls (p ≤.0001). Our analysis indicates that among boys, depression was found associated with greater age, food insecurity, poorer school performance and working for money, as well as being beaten at home and witnessing beating of their mother by their father or other relatives. Among girls, depression was associated with a younger age, greater food insecurity and poorer school performance. Depression was also associated with a great likelihood of engagement in peer violence, experience of punishment at home, and witnessing their father fighting with other men or beating their mother. Conclusions: Engagement in violent behaviors, exposure to violent acts and poverty surfaces as detrimental to mental health in youth age groups, suggesting strong measures to address youth violence, and poverty reduction for positive mental health outcomes in school age children.
AB - Background: Depression and peer violence are global issues impacting youth. We are presenting baseline data as part of a cluster randomized control trial underway, on adolescent depression, and associated factors among boys and girls in schools. Method: Cluster randomized control trial is underway for measuring the effectiveness of school-based play intervention program of the NGO Right to Play, in a sample of 1752 grade 6 youth in 40 public schools of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Students responded to Child Depression Inventory (CDI-2), the Peer Victimization Scale (PVS), the Peer Perpetration Scale (PPS), and investigator-driven seven-item School Performance Scale. Results: We report baseline assessments to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, and associated occurrence of peer perpetration and victimization. Boys report significantly more depressive symptoms as well as perpetration and victimization compared to girls (p ≤.0001). Our analysis indicates that among boys, depression was found associated with greater age, food insecurity, poorer school performance and working for money, as well as being beaten at home and witnessing beating of their mother by their father or other relatives. Among girls, depression was associated with a younger age, greater food insecurity and poorer school performance. Depression was also associated with a great likelihood of engagement in peer violence, experience of punishment at home, and witnessing their father fighting with other men or beating their mother. Conclusions: Engagement in violent behaviors, exposure to violent acts and poverty surfaces as detrimental to mental health in youth age groups, suggesting strong measures to address youth violence, and poverty reduction for positive mental health outcomes in school age children.
KW - Pakistan
KW - Peer violence
KW - abuse
KW - depression
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032876346&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/camh.12249
DO - 10.1111/camh.12249
M3 - Article
C2 - 32680419
AN - SCOPUS:85032876346
SN - 1475-357X
VL - 22
SP - 232
EP - 241
JO - Child and Adolescent Mental Health
JF - Child and Adolescent Mental Health
IS - 4
ER -