Mental health status of adolescent’s-A case study in Jorhat district, Assam

The study was conducted to assess the Mental Health Status of the adolescents of Jorhat district of Assam. Four hundred and twenty adolescents of aged 14-16 years from five private schools and five government schools were taken as the sample of the study. Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) both Teacher report and Self report was used to evaluate the mental health status of the adolescents. The tool consisted of five subcomponents namely Emotional symptoms, Conduct problem, Hyperactivity, Peer problem and Prosocial behaviour. There were 25 statements, 5 statements for each of the sub components. The results showed that the percentage of adolescents in abnormal category of Total difficulty score was 15.9 percent as per the teacher report and 13.8 percent as per self report. Further, the results indicated that among the five sub-components of mental health, the highest percentage of adolescents under abnormal category was in Conduct problem followed by Peer problem and Pro-social behaviour in both teacher and self report of adolescents. Significant gender differences were found in Conduct problems, Hyperactivity, Peer problem, Pro-social behaviour and Total difficulty score. Significant positive correlations have been observed between teachers report and self report of adolescents which revealed that the way the adolescents perceives themselves is reflected in their observable behaviours indicative of mental health status.