Abstract:
The objective of this research was to study the prevalence and psychosocial factors associated with depression among senior high school students of the Office of the Basic Education Commission in the Bangkok Metropolis. Through stratified random sampling 1,700 students from 10 schools were recruited. The mean age was 16.6 years , range 15-19 years. The ratio of girls to boys was 2:1. The instrument used in the study was the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) ,Thai version. Data collection was done between November 2007 - February 2008. The results of this study were as follows :
1. Using the cut off point of > 22 , the prevalence of depression in the sample was 17.4%.
2. Factors that were found to be significantly associated with depression (p< .05, .01) were as follows : age, school achievement, marital status of parents, economic status, parent-child relationship, mental health of parents, loss events, sibling relationship, peer relationship, child rearing pattern, feeling about family, loving same sex friends and broken love relationship.
3. By logistic regression analysis, the significant predictors of depression were GPA below 2.00, poor relationship with mother, mental health problems in mothers, loss events, poor peer relationship, financial problem and inappropriate pattern of child rearing.