Particularly for teenagers and young adults,
anxiety, depression, and other mental health
conditions continue to be major public health
concerns [1]. These transitory phases bring
about significant changes in a person’s social,
emotional, and physical makeup, which may
make them more susceptible to mental health
problems. The serious long-term consequences of ignoring these issues highlight how important it is to act quickly [2].
The Fasa Youth Cohort project was a comprehensive epidemiological study designed
to ascertain the prevalence of mental health
disorders and their relationship to some of
risky behaviors in young Iranians. A study
with 3,013 participants aged 15–35 years used
validated methods and standardized questionnaires (CIDI 2.1) to identify those who experienced mental health problems in the past
year and obtain reliable data [3, 4].
Results related to mental health were linked
using regression analysis as presented in Table-1. The study found that 16.9% of participants had anxiety and 20.7% had depression.
Females had higher rates of anxiety (19.9%)
and depression (24.1%) than males (12.7%
and 16.1%); widowed people had the highest
rates of anxiety (50%) and depression (58.3%).
Women had a significantly greater risk of depression (OR = 1.563, P< 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 1.452, P< 0.001). Compared to singles, married adults were less likely to report having depression (OR = 0.679, P = 0.007). While age was associated with increased risks for depression (OR = 1.186, P = 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 1.483, P ≤0.001), employment was shown to be protective against both disorders. The strongest link was found between depression and opium use (OR = 3.593, P< 0.001). BMI (OR = 1.392, P = 0.025), Alcohol consumption (OR = 1.969, P = 0.001), smoking (OR = 1.434, P = 0.006), and opioid use (OR = 2.556, P < 0.001) were all highly associated with risk of anxiety