Screening for Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among Third-Year Male Secondary School Students in Abha City

Objective: To screen for negative emotional states (i.e., those related to depression, stress and anxiety) among third-year secondary school male students.Subjects and Methods: The Arabic version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to screen 413 third-year secondary school male students in Abha City for symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.Results: Symptoms of depression were experienced by 48.4% of students, 47.5% of students had symptoms of anxiety, while 37% of students had symptoms of stress. Proportions of students with negative emotional states were significantly different according to their age groups, the older the student, the higher the proportion. Proportions of symptoms for negative emotional states were significantly higher among students with bigger family size. Symptoms of negative emotional states were significantly lower among Saudi students than non-Saudi students (46.9% vs. 80.9%, p=0.003; 45.8% vs. 80.9%, p=0.002; and 35.5% vs. 66.6%, p=0.003, for depression, anxiety and stress, respectively).Conclusions: Symptoms of negative emotional states are highly prevalent among third-year secondary schools male students in Abha. These symptoms are significantly higher among older, non-Saudi students and those with bigger family size. It is important that school health care providers should be trained to screen students for negative emotions, in order to identify students at high risk, those who need appropriate care and those who need to be referred for specialist treatment. School health care providers should teach and help students, especially those who have risk factors for negative emotions, to cope with stressors and adapt to stressful situations.