earticle

영어

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate mental health and mental health-related factors of adolescents with allergic diseases. Methods: The subjects were 72,060 middle and high school students, the data of whom were extracted from the 2014 Korean Youth' Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Allergic diseases included asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema. Mental health was measured by indicators such as perceived stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. To compare the mental health of adolescents who have allergic diseases with that of those who don’t, the study used x2-test and calculated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). In addition, the study used x2-test and multiple logistic regression, calculating OR and 95% CI, to analyze the association between mental health and allergic diseases and other variables. Results: Of 72,060 adolescents who participated in the study, 51.6% had allergic diseases(asthma 9.2%, allergic rhinitis 32.2%, eczema 23.9%). And 37.1% reported perceived stress, 26.6% depression, and 13.1% suicidal ideation. The adolescents with allergic diseases, compared to the adolescents without allergic diseases, were 1.26 times, 1.28 times, and 1.29 times more likely to experience perceived stress, depression, and suicidal ideation, respectively. The mental health-related factors of adolescents with allergic diseases were school type, sex, socioeconomic status, and academic performance. Conclusion: The adolescents with allergic diseases had poorer mental health than the adolescents without the diseases. Further studies should be done to verify this. And based on the study’s findings, school-based intervention programs for mental health of adolescents with allergic diseases need to be developed.