Violence and Mental Health among Adolescents in South East Nigeria

Abstract BackgroundThere is rise in the prevalence of mental health illnesses among the adolescent and the impact of violence on this rising trend requires to be evaluated. This is the aim of this study.Methods.The study was a cross-sectional school based study. Adolescents in the selected schools were interviewed using structured questionnaire. Information on the previous experience of violence, the action they took, and the effect on them were collected. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS. Significant was set at the p-value of <0.05.ResultsA total of 716 adolescents were involved in the study. The prevalence of violence was 87%. About 57.2% of the violence occurred at home, 44.2% done by relatives and 49.2% within the past 6 months. Sexual abuse was 10.2%. Among the adolescents that experienced violence, 58.7% suffered some form of mental health illness(es). There was significant difference between the action the adolescents took after the violence incident and the action their considered appropriate (p=0.00001). Female gender (p=0.042), not living with parents (p=0.015) and poverty (p=0.00001) significantly correlate with adolescent violence.Discussion and Conclusion.Violence is high among adolescent and associated with high prevalence of mental health illnesses. Intervention to reduce violence should target improvement in poverty alleviation programs to empower families to carter for their children should be implemented.