1/5 Vietnamese adolescents have mental health problems

According to the report, mental disorders among adolescents in Vietnam are not well known. The Vietnam Adolescent Mental Health Survey is the first survey to determine the prevalence of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of households in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Adolescent Mental Health Survey was conducted with a successful sample of 5,996 parent-adolescent pairs from September 2021 to December 2021, with the participation of 127 investigators collecting data in 38 provinces and cities.

Workshop on Dissemination of Research Results on Adolescent Mental Health in Vietnam

The survey results also showed that anxiety was the most common mental health problem (18.6%), followed by depression (4.3%).

In the past 12 months, only 8.4% of adolescents with mental health problems had accessed support or counselling services for emotional and behavioural problems.

Overall, only 6.5% of adolescents had accessed these services in the past 12 months and more than half (50.8%) had accessed them only once.

Only 5.1% of parents identified that their adolescent needed help with emotional and behavioral problems in the past 12 months, although 21.7% of adolescents experienced a mental health problem in the same period.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescent life, with 7.7% of adolescents reporting experiencing at least one emotional or behavioral problem more often than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results of the survey show that the prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents in Vietnam is a public health issue that needs to be addressed by planners and policy makers. To address adolescent mental health problems in Vietnam, future national mental health plans need to consider the specific needs of adolescents in addition to broader plans for adults.

Parents and families are the most likely source of support for adolescents with concerns and worries. Developing strategies to improve mental health literacy, reduce testing, and increase awareness of services available to families can help support children with mental health problems.

Only a small number of adolescents with mental health problems received services (8.4%), suggesting that, in order to support adolescents, it is important that mental health screening is integrated into existing general health services, and that mental health education and training and referral pathways are provided to general practitioners.

The finding that 7.7% of adolescents reported more emotional and behavioral problems than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of including mental health in planning for future population-level events such as pandemics, natural disasters, and conflicts.

According to Health and Life