Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence and correlates of probable adolescent mental health problems reported by parents in Vietnam

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of probable mental health problems in an epidemiologic study of Vietnamese adolescents. A secondary aim was to examine the correlates of probable mental health caseness.

Methods

Interviewers visited 1,914 households that were randomly selected to participate in a multi-agency study of mental health in select provinces of Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews assessed adolescent mental health problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) parent informant version, and additionally the interviewers collected information on demographic variables (age, gender, ethnic group, religious affiliation, social capital). The final sample included data on 1,368 adolescents (aged 11–18 years).

Results

The average score on the total problem composite of the SDQ scale was 6.66 (SD = 4.89), and 9.1% of the sample was considered a case (n = 124). Bivariate analyses were conducted to determine which demographic variables were related to the SDQ case/non-case score. All variables except gender were significant in bivariate analyses, and therefore were entered into a logistic regression. Results indicated that age, religion, and wealth remained significant predictors of probable caseness.

Conclusions

Overall, prevalence estimates of mental health problems generated by the SDQ were consistent with those reported in the US and other Western and non-Western samples. Results of the current study suggest some concordance of risk and protective factors between Western and Vietnamese youth (i.e., age and SES).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Samad L, Hollis C, Prince M, Goodman R (2005) Child and adolescent psychopathology in a developing country: testing the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Urdu version). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 14:158–166

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. World Health Organization (2001) Burden of mental and behavioral disorders. Available via http://www.who.int/whr/2001/chapter2/en/. Accessed 7 Jul 2009

  3. Brauner CB, Stephens CB (2006) Estimating the prevalence of early childhood serious emotional/behavioral disorders: challenges and recommendations. Public Health Rep 121:303–310

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kilpatrick DA, Ruggiero KJ, Acierno R, Saunders B, Resnick HS, Best CL (2003) Violence and risk of PTSD, major depression, substance abuse/dependence, and comorbidity: results from the national survey of adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 71:692–700

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Nikapota A (1991) Child psychiatry in developing countries. Br J Psychiatry 158:743–751

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Commission on adolescent depression and bipolar disorder (2005) Prevention of depression and bipolar disorder. In: Evans DL, Foa EB, Gur RE, Hendin H, O’Brien CP, Seligman MEP, Walsh BT (eds) Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: what we know and what we don’t know—a research agenda for improving the mental health of our youth. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 58–389

    Google Scholar 

  7. McKelvey RS, Sang DL, Tu HC (1997) Is there a role for child psychiatry in Vietnam? Aust NZ J Psychiatry 31:114–119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. McKelvey RS, Davies LC, Sang DL, Pickering KR, Tu HC (1999) Problems and competencies reported by parents of Vietnamese children in Hanoi. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 38:731–737

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Goodman R (1997) The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38:581–586

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Acierno R, Amstadter AB, Gros DF, Richardson L, Kilpatrick DG, Tran T et al (2009) A pre-/post-disaster epidemiological study of mental health functioning in Vietnam’s DaNang Province following Typhoon Xangsane. Int Perspect Vict 4:78–85

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Amstadter AB, Acierno R, Richardson L, Kilpatrick DG, Gros D, Gaboury MT et al (2009) Post-typhoon prevalence of DSM-IV defined post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in a Vietnamese sample. J Trauma Stress 22:180–188

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Tuan T, Lan PT, Harpham T, Huong NT, Thach TD, Tod B et al (2003) Young lives preliminary country report: Vietnam. Available via http://www.younglives.org.uk/countries/vietnam/preliminary-country-report. Accessed 28 Feb 2008

  13. Goodman R, Ford T, Simmons H, Gatward R, Meltzer H (2000) Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to screen for child psychiatric disorders in a community sample. Br J Psychiatry 177:534–539

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Goodman R, Renfrew D, Mullick M (2000) Predicting type of psychiatric disorder from Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores in child mental health clinics in London and Dhaka. Eur Ch Adolesc Psychiatry 9:129–134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Klasen H, Woerner W, Wolke D, Meyer R, Overmeyer S, Kaschnitz W et al (2000) Comparing the German versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Deu) and the Child Behavior Checklist. Eur Ch Adolesc Psychiatry 9:271–276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Koskelainen M, Sourander A, Kaljonen A (2000) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire among Finnish school-aged children and adolescents. European Ch Adolesc Psychiatry 9:277–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mathai J, Anderson P (2004) Comparing psychiatric diagnoses generated by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire with diagnoses made by clinicians. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 38:639–643

    Google Scholar 

  18. Mullick MSI, Goodman R (2001) Questionnaire screening for mental health problems in Bangladeshi children: a preliminary study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 36:94–99

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Shojaei T, Wazana A, Pitrou I (2009) The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: validation study in French school-aged children and cross-cultural comparisons. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44:740–747

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Smedje H, Broman J-E, Hetta J, von Knorring A-L (1999) Psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the “Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire”. Eur Ch Adolesc Psychiatry 8:63–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. van Widenfelt BM, Goedhart AW, Treffers PD, Goodman R (2003) Dutch version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Eur Ch Adolesc Psychiatry 12:281–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Thabet AA, Stretch D, Vostanis P (2000) Child mental health problems in Arab children: application of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Int J Soc Psychiatry 46:266–280

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Javad AM, Kundi MZ, Khan AP (1992) Emotional and behavioral problems among school children in Pakistan. J Pakistan Med Assoc 42:181–184

    Google Scholar 

  24. Jawed SH (1991) A survey of psychiatrically ill Asian children. Br J Psychiatry 158:268–270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Sakai JT, Risk NK, Tanaka CA, Price RK (2008) Conduct disorder among Asians and native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders in the USA. Psychol Med 38:1013–1025

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tung TM (1980) Indochinese patients: Cultural aspects of the medical and psychiatric care of Indochinese refugees. Action for South East Asians, Inc, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  27. Amone-P’Olak K, Burger H, Ormel J, Huisman M, Verhulst FC, Oldehinkel AJ (2009) Socioeconomic position and mental health problems in pre- and early-adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44:231–238

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE (2005) Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry 62:593–602

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Patel V, Kleinman A (2003) Poverty and common mental disorders in developing countries. Bull World Health Org 81:609–615

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Dew RE, Daniel SS, Armstrong TD, Goldston DB, Triplett MF, Koenig HG (2008) Religion/spirituality and adolescent psychiatric symptoms: a review. Ch Psychiatry Hum Dev 39:381–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Liu KY, Chen EYH, Cheung ASZ, Yip PSF (2009) Psychiatric history modifies the gender ratio of suicide: an East and West comparison. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44:130–134

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Eme RF (1979) Sex differences in childhood psychopathology: a review. Psychol Bull 86:574–595

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Willcutt EG, Pennington BF (2000) Comorbidity of reading disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: differences by gender and subtype. J Learn Disabil 33:179–191

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Zahn-Waxler C (1993) Warriors and worriers: gender and psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol 5:79–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Hartung CM, Widiger TA (1998) Gender differences in the diagnosis of mental disorders: conclusions and controversies of DSMIV. Psychol Bull 123:260–278

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA

    Ananda B. Amstadter, Lisa Richardson, Alicia Meyer, Genelle Sawyer & Dean G. Kilpatrick

  2. Health Department of Da Nang City, Da Nang, Vietnam

    Trinh Luong Tran

  3. Da Nang Mental Health Hospital, Da Nang, Vietnam

    Lam Tu Trung

  4. Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Washington, USA

    Nguyen Thanh Tam

  5. Research and Training Center for Community Development, Vong St Hanoi, Vietnam

    Tran Tuan, La Thi Buoi, Tran Thu Ha & Tran Duc Thach

  6. Oskar Schindler Humanities Foundation, New Haven, USA

    Mario Gaboury

  7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, USA

    Ron Acierno

  8. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, 250852, 67 President St, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Ananda B. Amstadter

Authors
  1. Ananda B. Amstadter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lisa Richardson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alicia Meyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Genelle Sawyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dean G. Kilpatrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Trinh Luong Tran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Lam Tu Trung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Nguyen Thanh Tam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Tran Tuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. La Thi Buoi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Tran Thu Ha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Tran Duc Thach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Mario Gaboury
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Ron Acierno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ananda B. Amstadter.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Amstadter, A.B., Richardson, L., Meyer, A. et al. Prevalence and correlates of probable adolescent mental health problems reported by parents in Vietnam. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 46, 95–100 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0172-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0172-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation