Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Depression and Thoughts of Self-Harm Among Adolescents in Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey Program

Across 16,269 adolescents aged 15–19 in five LMIC DHS surveys, PHQ-9-defined probable depression was 3.9% (95% CI 3.4–4.5), ranging from 0.6% in Zambia to 6.5% in Mozambique.

• Why it matters: Comparable, nationally representative LMIC estimates for adolescent depression and self-harm are scarce, especially for out-of-school youth, limiting context-sensitive surveillance and prevention planning.
• What they did: Using DHS Mental Health Module data from Bangladesh (2022), Lesotho (2023–24), Mozambique (2022–23), Nepal (2022), and Zambia (2024), the study estimated survey-weighted prevalence and used sex- and country-specific modified Poisson regression for sociodemographic correlates.
• The result: Girls showed higher prevalence than boys for probable depression (4.9% vs 1.9%), while age gradients were not consistent and correlates varied across settings, supporting locally tailored monitoring.

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