title: Depressive symptoms in adolescents in Jamaica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Depression in adolescents is often overlooked and misdiagnosed; however it is an important mental health problem which is associated with major functional impairments across daily domains of living, and considerable morbidity. The aim of this research is to examine the prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms among Jamaican adolescents, and the associated sociodemographic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included 3003 students between 10 and 15 years old in Jamaica. Survey methodology was used in the collection of the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the sample of students, 47% were males. One hundred and thirty-four (4.5%) reported having depressive symptoms. The factors significantly associated with depressive symptoms were negative community attributes (B = 1.1; p = 0.001), protective factors within the home (B = 0.72; p = 0.000), gender (B = 1.92; p = 0.000), and learning problems (B = 3.1; p = 0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate rates of depressive symptomatology reported among adolescents in Jamaica are consistent with rates reported in the literature.
authors: Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, West Indies. wendelabel@hotmail.com
authors: W D
authors: WD
authors: Abel
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Bailey-Davidson
authors: R C
authors: RC
authors: Gibson
authors: J S
authors: JS
authors: Martin
authors: C A
authors: CA
authors: Sewell
authors: S
authors: S
authors: James
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Fox
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors