Rural-urban differences in the prevalence and predictors of depression among adolescents in South Africa

Background. Mental health is part of overall health but there is dearth of research on the rural-urban differences of depression among adolescents in South Africa. This study on adolescents, therefore, presents an analysis of rural-urban differences in the prevalence of depression and appraises the socio-demographic predictors of depression among adolescents in South Africa. Methods. Data were obtained from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), wave 4 of 2014 conducted on a nationally-representative sample of 3,751 respondents aged 15-19 years. Univariate analysis was used to describe the study population while bivariate analysis was used to test for significant differences in the depression status of the population. Finally, binary logistic regression was used to estimate the predictors of depression. Results. Urban adolescents (14.64%) were more depressed than their rural counterparts (9.40%). Gender, income levels, and province of residence also showed significant differences in both rural and urban areas. The significant predictors of depression in both rural and urban areas were race, age, income, and province of residence. Conclusion. Counseling and rehabilitation programmes should be targeted more at the urban, the more educated and the higher income earning adolescents, especially in provinces with relatively higher prevalence of depression.