Abstract

COGOLLO, Zuleima  and  CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto. Association between clinically important depressive symptoms and academic achivement among students in Cartagena, Colombia. Rev. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2007, vol.5, n.1, pp.33-39. ISSN 1692-7273.

Background: Some studies show a strong association between depressive symptoms and academic achievement in the adolescent population. However, there are few Colombian publications about this topic. Objective: To establish the association between clinically important depressive symptoms and academic achievement among low socioeconomic status adolescent students. Method: A group of 13 to 17 year-aged adolescents was studied. Meaningful clinically depressive symptoms were measured with Zung' self-rating depression scale (40/80). Academic achievement was evaluated according to Colombian qualitative model. Results: A total of 43.5% of students reported clinically important depressive symptoms and 30.7% accomplished a poor academic achievement, according to teacher report. The academic achievement was independent of meaningful clinically depressive symptoms, after controlling other variables. Conclusion: Meaningful clinically depressive symptoms are frequent in low socioeconomic status adolescent students. But, meaningful clinically depressive symptoms are not associated with academic performance. Further investigations are needed.

Keywords : Depression; Academic Achievement; Adolescent; Students; Socioeconomic Status.

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