Prevalence and Associated Factors of Perceived Stress Among Female Adolescents in Nawabshah City Pakistan

Introduction: Stress of any type is a major risk for mental illness. In adolescence, mental illness symptoms are often considered normal stressor for youth. Poor mental health can have numerous impacts on female adolescent development such as use of illicit drug, withdrawal, poor coping skills, abnormal eating habits, anti-social behaviour, adolescent pregnancy, school dropout, unprotected sex and poor physical health.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and identify the associated factors of perceived stress among female adolescent in Nawabshah City, Pakistan.

Methods: An Analytical cross-sectional design was employed to achieve the study objectives. The study population was comprised of all school-going female adolescents aged 10–16 years resident of Nawabshah City. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and structured questionnaire were employed to measure the prevalence and associated factors of stress respectively. Multiple linear regressions were done to determine the predictors contributing to stress among female adolescents by using SPSS version 17.

Results: The mean ± SD of perceived stress score of the respondents was 27.84 ± 2.84 with median 28 with a range of 19 to 37 scores. The final model indicated that among adolescents whose fathers were unemployed, the estimated mean ± SD score of stress was 0.734 ± 0.493 higher than adolescents whose fathers are employed. As the number of rooms in the house was increased by one, the estimated mean stress score decreased by 0.213 ± 0.082. Among adolescents whose parents quarreled, the estimated mean score of stress was 0.158 ± 0.051 higher than adolescents whom parents did not quarrel.

Conclusion: This study showed an alarming prevalence of stress among female adolescents. The father’s unemployment, number of rooms and parental quarrel are associated with risk of stress among female adolescents. If this condition will persist, the day will not be far to see that every second adolescent will be suffering from psychological disorders. Hence, public health interventions are required to prevent our future assets from getting into psychological morbidity and mortality.