Factors associated with depressive symptoms in Nigerian adolescents

Purpose: To evaluate the factors associated with depressive symptoms in a sample of Nigerian 13-18-year-olds attending senior secondary schools. Method: Adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (n = 1095) attending senior secondary schools completed the Beck Depressive Inventory (BDI) as a measure of their depressive symptoms. The adolescents and their parents also completed various questionnaires regarding related demographic, psychosocial and family factors. Results: There were 99 (9.0%) adolescents with clinically significant depressive symptoms. The factors significantly associated with adolescents' depressive symptoms include parental depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 5.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.48-7.81), adolescents' perception of family functioning as poor (OR 6.79, 95% CI 3.46-12.23), adolescents' problems with peers (OR 4.69, 95% CI 3.06-7.19), adolescents' low self-esteem (OR 6.63, 95% CI 2.59-16.96), adolescents' drinking (OR 3.98, 95% CI 2.37-6.69), female gender (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.11-2.72), and large family size (OR 2.83, 95% CI 1.15-7.74). Conclusions: Child and adolescent health policy-makers should consider these factors when planning healthcare services or formulating a predictive model for adolescents' depression in low-income countries. Clinical assessment should focus on identification of these variables and nonpharmacological interventions may be of relevance in addressing some of the associated factors. (c) 2006 Society for Adolescent Medicine. All rights reserved.