Screening for psychological distress among a national sample of in-school adolescents in United Arab Emirates: Prevalence and associated factors

• Main Authors: Karl Peltzer, Supa Pengpid
• Other Authors: University of Limpopo
• Format: Book Chapter
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/79050
• Institution: Mahidol University

The aim of the study was to assess psychological distress (PD) among adolescents in United Arab Emirates (UAE). In all, 5,849 school adolescents responded to questions on PD from the cross-sectional national UAE Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in 2016. Results indicate a prevalence of PD of 20.6%, 25.5% among females and 15.7% among males. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, girls, increasing age, having been physically attacked, bullying victimization, parental disrespect of privacy, parents never check on homework, parental emotional neglect, low peer support, frequently experiencing hunger, frequent school truancy, daily exposure to secondary smoke, sedentary behaviour during leisure-time and injuries were associated with PD. One in five students had PD and several factors associated with PD were discovered that can be targeted in school health promotion.