An epidemiological study of stress among adolescent of urban and rural Moradabad

ABSTRACT

Background: Adolescence is considered as a stressful phase due to physical, psychological, and sexual changes. Due to stress overload, people from adolescent age group easily fall prey to mood disturbances such as anxiety and depression compromising their quality of life. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of stress, among urban and rural areas of Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A present cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to December 2017 among adolescents of field practice areas of the Department of Community Medicine, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre, Moradabad. A total of 400 participants were selected using a multistage sampling design with a random approach. Results: Majority of adolescents (165) belonged to late adolescent followed by early (119) and midadolescent (116). One hundred and thirteen adolescents were in primary school, high school (124), intermediate (100), and illiterate (18). About 54.5% of adolescents belonged to nuclear families. Amongst our 400 study participants 49.3% reported of being stressed. This was significantly more in mid and late adolescents, who were living either alone or belonging to nuclear families, children of illiterate parents, belonging to lower socioeconomic class (58.7%) followed by participants from upper socioeconomic class (51.8%). Conclusion: Our study draws attention to the high prevalence of stress among adolescents. Identification of stress can enable us to intervene proactively which can avert further complications. We recommend strengthening the information, education, and communication activities for prevention, early identification, and timely treatment for stress in adolescents.