Mental Health Status of Adolescent Women Dwelling in the Kolkata Slum Area of West Bengal: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Adolescence being a very crucial and distinct phase of life, evidence-based research on their mental health issues is important in the developing country setting in India. Rapid urbanization without catering to the basic amenities results in health disparities among adolescent women of urban slums. Although an extant literature is available on the child health, reproductive and communicable diseases of adolescent and non-adolescent women, little is known about the spectrum of mental wellbeing of adolescent women dwelling in urban slums and only poor knowledge exists on health promotive socio-physical environments in these areas. Aim: This paper, using primary survey of 550 women in slums of Kolkata, West Bengal with current prevalence of mental illness and suicide being higher than the current national average, attempts to identify the nature and barriers of sound mental health among adolescent women compared to nonadolescent women. Methods: Besides descriptive statistics, multinomial logistic regression and principal component analysis are used here. Results: Strikingly, higher education and media exposure cannot really improve the mental health status among the adolescent women of these urban slums of West Bengal. The prime driving factor behind poorer mental health appears to be lack of agency. A significant portion of adolescent women in the Kolkata slum area are unable to recognize the symptoms of mental disorder among them due to lack of information regarding the mental health problem. Conclusions: National Mental Health Policy should focus on Innovative Information-Education- Campaigns so that young minds and their family can improve their overall understanding of the persisting mental health issues among adolescent women. School based mental health literacy programs should be included in school curriculum to alter the developmental trajectory of mental illnesses and lead to improved outcomes