Adolescence is the transient period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood, from ages 10 to19years. So, it is a period of opportunity as well as a time of risk. It opens the window of opportunity to set the stage for healthy and productive adulthood while serious health problems could initiate serious adverse effects on health in the future (WHO, 2009)
Although most adolescents make the stepping into adulthood in good health, some do not. Some young people are cut down by suicide, violence, traffic accidents or the consequences of unsafe abortion. …show more content…
Increased pituitary sensitivity to gonadotrophin releasing hormone, leading to increased androgens and estrogens, triggers rapid changes in height, weight, body shape and genital development.
A significant increase in white matter (which represents fiber growth and myelination) takes place during adolescence and continues into the early 20s. Myelination occurs back to front; therefore, sensory and motor regions mature earlier than the prefrontal areas associated with thinking, reasoning and judgment abilities. Different maturational patterns are recognized for boys and girls as well (Hazen, Schlozman, & Beresin, 2008).
Physical changes in adolescents have a major influence on the psychological functioning of each individual; therefore regardless of timing it is important to be sensitive about how it is affecting the emotional and behavioral well being.
The social development of adolescents is considered in the context in which it occurs; that is, relating to family, peers, school and community (APA, …show more content…
Identification of these problems is a challenge in the field. According to the literature, screening questionnaires had become the most popular method of assessing mental health status among adolescents.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a brief screening questionnaire that is being widely used. It detects children’s and adolescent’s emotional and behavioral issues along with problems in relationships.
By Perera, 2004, the Sinhala translation of self-reported version of SDQ was validated by using clinic based population representing a high risk group and the general population to represent a low risk population of adolescents, but separate cut-off values had not been decided. As, in her study, the British cut-off points were used in the categorization.
A recent study by Perera et al, 2013 carried out among nationally representative sample of school going adolescents aged 12-16years determined the cut-off values for the self reported version of SDQ. According to the study the comparison of the British cut-off points with suggested Sri Lanka cut-off points showed that he normal range had not changed, while the upper margin of the borderline score shifted one point away (18 to 19). The lower margin of the abnormal score changed from 20 to