Factors Associated with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Middle Adolescents Two Years after the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region
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Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms and to examine the associations between sex, awareness of COVID-19 infection, family income, family relationships, adverse life events, and internet addiction with moderate to severe levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms among middle adolescents two years after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.
Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design involving adolescents aged 15-18 residing in Bangkok and its surrounding metropolitan area. A total of 439 adolescents were included in this study. Data were collected from November 2021 to February 2022, using online questionnaires. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between study variables and moderate to severe depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Main findings: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 55.1% and anxiety symptoms were 65.2% among middle adolescents during the past two years of the COVID-19 outbreak. These conditions may overlap, as some adolescents experienced both depressive and anxiety symptoms. The multivariable logistic regression models explained 21% of the variance in moderate to severe depressive symptoms and 31% of the variance in moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Family relationships were significantly associated with lower odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, middle adolescents who experienced adverse life events had approximately twofold higher odds, while those with internet addiction had approximately fourfold higher odds of moderate to severe depressive and anxiety symptoms after controlling for the other variables.
Conclusion and recommendations: This study identified protective factors and risk factors associated with moderate to severe levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms in a crisis. School nurses and health care providers should screen and tailor intervention management to prevent the occurrence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among middle adolescents in crisis.
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