Prevalence of Behavioural Disorders and Its Correlates among Adolescents in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka –A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Childhood and adolescence are critical stages of life for mental health. This is a time when rapid growth and development takes place. Half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age but most cases are undetected and untreated. Behavioural patterns of adolescents are not much explored in India. In this study, we aim to assess the behavioural pattern and its correlates among adolescents in Karwar of Uttara kannada district, Karnataka. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted on adolescents studying in Government Pre-University college of Karwar in the month of June and July 2019.The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess the mental health status of adolescents. The total difficulties score is used to categorize adolescents as normal (0-15) and high [borderline (16-19) and abnormal (20-40)]. Results: Although majority of adolescents were in the normal range, a significant number of adolescents were in borderline (18.4%) and abnormal (14.1%) SDQ scores. Binary logistic regression analysis shows that use of social media, abnormal emotional grade, conduct grade, hyperactivity grade, peer grade and impact grade were found statistically significant. Conclusion: Significant numbers of adolescents were in high range of SDQ scores and suffered from emotional, conduct, prosocial behaviour and hyperactivity problems.