Academic Stress and Depression among Adolescents: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: To examine the relationship between academic stress and depression among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at higher secondary schools in Tamil Nadu. 1120 adolescents were included in the study after screening by MINI-kid tool. Modified Educatonal Stress Scale for Adolescents was administered to all children. Results: Adolescents who had academic stress were at 2.4 times (95% CI=0.9-2.4) (P<0.001) higher risk of depression than adolescents without academic stress. Conclusions: Adolescents with severe academic stress need to be identified early as interventions to reduce academic stress is likely to affect the occurrence and severity of depression.