Iranian adolescents' ability to recognize depression and beliefs about preventative strategies, treatments and causes of depression.

Background: Since depression often has its onset during adolescence, knowledge about adolescents' ability to recognize depression and their beliefs about preventative strategies, treatments, and causes of depression are of importance.
Methods: A total of 1984 adolescents, aged 12-17 years, participated in this study. They were recruited from 16 urban and suburban schools in Ahvaz City, Iran by cluster sampling. Participants were presented with a vignette depicting depression that was developed by Jorm and colleagues.
Results: About half of the adolescents were able to correctly recognize depression. In terms of dealing with the depression depicted by the character in the vignette, older compared to younger participants, thought it best to ignore the individual or keep him/her busy. Younger adolescents were more likely to believe that depression was the result of god's will and a physical illness, whereas older adolescents tended to consider depression as resulting from the way in which people were raised, and from the normal ups and downs of life. Older, compared to younger adolescents, tended to endorse the preventative value of "not using marijuana" and "never drinking alcohol in excess".
Limitations: Since a hypothetical vignette was used, the findings may not truly reflect the real life experience of depression. The sample was drawn from a single region in Iran.
Conclusions: Given adolescents' relatively limited knowledge about depression and their beliefs about the causes and preventative strategies, there is fertile ground for health promotion in Iran.
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