Prevalance of Depression in Children Living in Orpahange

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics
Ramagopal G et al. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016 Nov;3(4):1326-1328

http://www.ijpediatrics.com
Original Research Article
pISSN 2349-3283 | eISSN 2349-3291
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20163670
Prevalence of depression among children living in orphanage

Ganavi Ramagopal*, Shobana Narasimhan, L. Uma Devi
Department of Pediatrics, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, India
Received: 14 July 2016
Accepted: 09 August 2016
*Correspondence:
Dr. Ganavi Ramagopal,
E-mail: ggganavi10@gmail.com
Copyright: the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
Background: The children who are placed in orphanages especially during very young age, for long duration are
found to be at increased risk of developing psychiatric problems like depression, behavioural and emotional disorders
later in life. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and severity of depression among children living
in orphanage.
Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study, involving 180 children in the age group of 12-18 years living in
orphanage was conducted. After obtaining permission and informed consent, demographic details were noted and
hamilton depression scale was administered to assess depression. Scoring was done, severity of depression was
classified and results were tabulated.
Results: 53% were age group of 12-14 years and 46% were 15-17 years, 52% females and 48% males, 35% had
depression, most of them who had depression were in the age group of 15-17 years and majority were females.
According to severity of depression 52% had mild depression, 23% had moderate depression, 14% had severe
depression, 9% had very severe depression and 38% of depressed children had suicidal intentions.
Conclusions: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorder prevalent among children living in
orphanages especially adolescent females so early identification and intervention is necessary for the children living
orphanages to prevent further consequences.
Keywords: Depression, Orphan, Psychiatry
INTRODUCTION
Childhood is a stage of development in which the
reciprocal emotional bonding between child and his/her
caregiver should be there for healthy physical,
psychological and social development which has been
known for centuries.1
Children who experience early deprivation and neglect
from parents or caregivers have a significantly increased
risk of a range of psychiatric disorders like emotional and
behaviour disorder, depression, etc. as per many
researchers.2,3
Orphanages are institutions for the care of a child
bereaved of both father and mother and also sometimes a
child living with single parent. Orphans are one of the

most serious socio-economic and developmental
challenges in developing countries worldwide.
Many studies have shown children placed in orphanages
very significantly during early years of age and for long
duration experience serious psychopathology later in life
as compared to children living with families. This is
because like adults, children are grieved by the loss of
their parents, but unlike adults children do not feel the
full impact of the loss because they may not be able to
understand immediately the finality of death, preventing
them from going through the grieving process which is
very necessary to recover. So children therefore are at
risk of growing up with unresolved negative emotions
which are often expressed with anger and depression.4
International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics | October-December 2016 | Vol 3 | Issue 4
Page 1326
Children are not given the required support and

encouragement to express their emotions nor are they
guided to deal with them. Emotional support needs to be
constantly looked at and improved because children will
continue to suffer across the world.5
According to severity of depression 52% had mild

depression, 23% had moderate depression, 14% had
severe depression, 9% had very severe depression and
38% of depressed children had suicidal intentions (Table
4).
Early diagnosis and timely intervention is needed to

ameliorate their sufferings and improve the quality of
their lives. So this study was under taken, to determine
the prevalence and severity of depression among the
children in orphanage, to take appropriate steps
accordingly for managing the problems identified.
Table 4: Severity of depression.
METHODS
A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted
with180 children from orphanage with inclusion criteria
being children in the age of 12 to 18 years of both sexes
living in orphanage and exclusion criteria was children
with mental retardation ,with chronic medical illness and
not willing to participate. Tool used was hamilton
depression rating scale (HAM-D) to assess depression.6
After institutional ethical committee clearance,
permission was taken from the head of orphanage.
Children satisfying the inclusion criteria were included in
the study and their demographic status were noted HAM
D scale was then administered to assess depression. The
scores were calculated and classified as 0-7 = normal, 813 = mild depression, 14-18 = moderate depression, 1922 = severe depression, >23 very severe depression.
Results were then tabulated.
RESULTS
Among 180 children ,53% were age group of 12-14 years
(Table 1) and 46% were 15-17 years, 52% females and
48% males (Table 2), 35% had depression, most of them
who had depression were in the age group of 15-17 years
and majority were females (Table 3).
Table 1: Age wise distribution of children.
Age
12-14 years
15-17 years
No of children
96
84
Percentage
53.3
46.7
Table 2: Sex wise distribution of children.

Sex
Male
Female
No of children
87
93
Percentage
48
52
Table 3: Prevalence of depression.

Sex
Male
Female
Total
No of children
27
36
63
Percentage
42
58
100
Parameter
Depression (total)
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Very severe
Suicidal intentions
No of children
63
33
15
9
6
24
Percentage
43.8
52.4
23.8
14.2
3.3
38.1
DISCUSSION
In present study, depression was prevalent among 35% of
children living in orphanage, most of them were females,
age group of 15-17 years and mean duration of stay was
5.2 years and majority of them had single parent
especially mother with father being expired due to
medical illness or accident.
Segendo J et al studied the psychological effect of
orphanhood where 193 orphans were assessed for
depression using depression scale and found that 49.2%
of children had depression and more common in children
with loss of both parents.7
Mushtaq et al conducted a study in an orphanage for girls
with the help of psychiatrists where initial screening was
done and using DSM IV guidelines screened children
were evaluated for psychopathology. Children were in the
age group of 5-12 years. PTSD was the commonest
psychiatric disorder (40.62%) followed by MDD (25%)
and conversion disorder (12.5%).8
Ibrahim A et al conducted a cross-sectional descriptive
study including 200 orphans using structure interview for
personal data and the arabic version of the
multidimensional child and adolescent depression scale
(MCADS). The study revealed that 20% of orphans had
depression and Girls were about 46 times more likely to
have depression than boys.9
Asfawesen S et al conducted institution based crosssectional study where two hundred and ninety three
subjects were included in the study between 10-19 age
groups. Data was collected using a pretested intervieweradministered structured questionnaire and scales
including hamilton-anxiety depression and Rosenbergs
rating scale were used to measure the orphans level of
depression, anxiety and self-esteem. Among the study
participants, 74 (25.3%) orphan adolescents were
depressed .4 Mohammed N et al conducted a study using
becks depression inventory among 131 orphans and 39
non orphans in the age group of 13-17 years and found
Page 1327
depression was more prevalent among the orphan group,

more so in females.10
Maqbool M et al conducted a cross sectional descriptive
study with 348 children aged 6-18 years using
development and well-being assessment scale for one
stage structured assessment of psychopathology. The
prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 40.52% among
the study sample with separation anxiety disorder
(12.93%) being the most common followed by
Depression (7.76%).11
CONCLUSION
Depression is one of the most common psychiatric
disorders prevalent among children living in orphanages
especially adolescent females so we recommend regular
psychiatric surveillance for the orphanages for early
detection and treatment of psychiatric disorders can
ameliorate their sufferings and improve the quality of
their lives.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors would like to thank the principal of the
orphanage home for giving the permission and all the
children who participated in the study.
Funding: No funding sources
Conflict of interest: None declared
Ethical approval: The study was approved by the
Institutional Ethics Committee
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challenges and hope in the twenty-rst century.
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Cicchetti D, Barnett D. Attachment organization in
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children the continuum of caretaking causality. J
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4. Asfawesen S, Aregay A, Berhe H. Prevalence of
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6. Strik J, Honig A, Lousberg R, Denollet J.
Sensitivity and specificity of observer and selfreport questionnaires in major and minor depression
following myocardial infarction. Psychosomatics.
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7. Sengendo J, Nambi J. The psychological effect of
orphanhood: a study of orphans in Rakai district.
Health Transition Review. 1997;7:105-24.
8. Margoob MA, Rather YH, Khan AY, Singh GP,
Malik YA, Firdosi MM, Ahmad SA. Psychiatric
disorders among children living in orphanages experience from Kashmir. JK Practitioner.
2006;13(1):53-5.
9. Ibrahim A, Bilsha MA, Gilany AH, Khater M.
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Cite this article as: Ramagopal G, Narasimhan S,
Devi LU. Prevalence of depression among children
living in orphanage. Int J Contemp Pediatr
2016;3:1326-8.
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International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics

Ramagopal G et al. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016 Nov;3(4):1326-1328

Original Research Article

pISSN 2349-3283 | eISSN 2349-3291

Prevalence of depression among children living in orphanage

child living with single parent. Orphans are one of the

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics | October-December 2016 | Vol 3 | Issue 4

Ramagopal G et al. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016 Nov;3(4):1326-1328

Children are not given the required support and

According to severity of depression 52% had mild

Early diagnosis and timely intervention is needed to

Table 4: Severity of depression.

Table 2: Sex wise distribution of children.

Table 3: Prevalence of depression.

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics | October-December 2016 | Vol 3 | Issue 4

Ramagopal G et al. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2016 Nov;3(4):1326-1328

depression was more prevalent among the orphan group,

Anna T, Smyke. Attachment disturbances in young

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics | October-December 2016 | Vol 3 | Issue 4

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