Mental Health and Coping Styles among adolescent offsprings of patients with depressive disorders.

Abstract

Objective : To study of mental health and coping styles among adolescent offsprings of patients with depressive disorders.

Participants : Sixty-one subjects from the Out-patient Clinic of the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and Sritanya Hospital

Methods : The instruments used in this study consisted of a questionnaire on general information, Thai Mental Health Indicator (TMHI-15) and The Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experience (Thai version). The data were analyzed by SPSS program at statistical significance of P<.05.

Results : 1) Most subjects had the same mental health level as that of the general public (39.3%). 2) The most frequent method of coping used by the sample was sleeping (80.3%) the least frequent was getting professional counseling such as a psychiatrist (93.4%). 3) Many methods of coping were significantly associated with mental health such as daydreaming, talking and reasoning with parents etc. 4) Factors found to be significantly related to mental health included grade point average, father’s education, people confided in when having problem, relationship with father, relationship with mother, activities with family, number of close friends and peer relationship.

Conclusion : Most adolescents offspring of parents with depressive disorders had mental health scores in the same range as the general public. Many factors and coping styles were associated with good mental health. Promoting these factors and coping styles will help adolescents handle the stress associated with parent’s depression more effectively.