Prevalence of depression and its association with parental neglect among adolescents at governmental high schools of Aksum town, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2019: A cross sectional study

Abstract Background depression is one of the most serious and prevalent mental illnesses that can result in serious disability and ending life by committing suicide and homicide. The risks of having depression are substantially higher in persons who have parental neglect when compared to the general population. Objective To detect prevalence of depression and its association with parental neglect among adolescents in governmental high schools at Aksum town, Tigray, Ethiopia 2019 Method A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1-30/2019 at Aksum town high schools. Public health questionnaire was used in this study to detect Depression. Study participants were selected using simple random sampling technique. Data was collected with face to face interview. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social science version 22. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to see the association between depression and parental neglect. Adjusted Odds ratio at a p-value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval was taken to declare statistical significance of variables. Result A total of 624 students were participated in the study yielding a response rate of 99.05%. Prevalence of depression was found to be 36.2%. Depression among adolescents was found to have significant and strong association with parental neglect ((AOR=2.61, 95% CI (1.83, 3.72), p-value=0.000). Conclusion and recommendation In the current study the prevalence of depression is found to be high when compared to other population. Significant and strong association is also determined between parental neglect and depression. It is good if school teachers give emphasize for those students who seems psychologically unwell. It is better if school teachers exercise linking such students to school psychologists. It is good to conduct prospective cohort study to investigate temporal relationship between factors and depression. It is good if Aksum university comprehensive hospital start campaign which will teach about the effect of parental neglect on the adolescent’s mental health. Key words: Depression, high school, parental neglect