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. 2024 Nov 22:13:103069.
doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2024.103069. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with psychological distress among children in Penang, Malaysia: A stratified multistage cluster study

Xin Yee Foo  1 , Nur Arzuar Abdul Rahim  2 , Lai Kuan Lee  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and risk factors associated with psychological distress among children in Penang, Malaysia: A stratified multistage cluster study

Xin Yee Foo et al. MethodsX. .

Abstract

Mental health is a state of mind influences one thinking, feeling and acting from inside and outside that are vital for children's normal growth and development. Psychological distress may results in serious mental health problem if left untreated. Hence, early diagnosis can largely improve the condition from being deteriorating. This study determined the prevalence of psychological distress and its associated risk factors among children in Penang, Malaysia. The study applied stratified multistage cluster sampling for the recruitment of children, and their socio-demographics background, health and lifestyle practices, and the prevalence and risk factors of psychological distress were succinctly studied. The study provides a fundamental platform for informing parents and policy makers about psychological distress, and the need to strategize potential health intervention for achieving optimum human well-being.•Stratified multistage cluster sampling was useful to study the prevalence and risk factors of psychological distress in a children population.•DASS-Y is robust for brief dimensional measure of depression, anxiety and stress among children.

Keywords: Children; Mental health; Prevalence; Psychological distress; Risk factors; Stratified multistage cluster sampling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image, graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
Fig 1
Fig. 1
Stratified multistage cluster sampling.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Flow chart of the method.
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