Stress, anxiety and depression levels in high school students from amapa

Abstract

There is growing concern about the mental health of Brazilian adolescents and young people, especially those who are in situations of social vulnerability. Symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression are frequently reported in academic research, showing that the mental health of our students is a serious issue if not treated seriously and in advance. In this article, we aim to estimate the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression of students in the public school system of the state of Amapá, verifying associations with sociodemographic variables. As a methodology, we used the DASS-21 scale, an international instrument used to quantitatively measure levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, digitized into Google Forms format and made available online to students throughout the territory of Amapá. The results show a prevalence of 27.8% of stress between severe and extremely severe, 46.9% of prevalence of anxiety between severe and extremely severe, and 47.2% of prevalence of depression between severe and extremely severe, in addition to a strong positive correlation between these three domains of the scale. In conclusion, it is observed that students, especially those in high school, are the most affected by high levels of stress, anxiety and depression in the state of Amapá.