Prevalence and distribution pattern of mood swings in Thai adolescents: a school-based survey in the central region of Thailand

BACKGROUND: Mood swings (MS) are a widely discussed psychiatric ailment of youthful patients. However, there is a lack of research about MS in this population. METHODS: A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and distribution pattern of mood swings due to personal and contextual determinants in Thai adolescents in the central region of Thailand. Participants were 2598 students in high schools and vocational schools in Bangkok and three provinces in the central region of Thailand. RESULTS: The prevalence of mood swings was 26.4%. It was highest among vocational students in Bangkok at 37.1%. MS were more common in adolescents who exhibited risk behaviors and who resided in hazardous situations. The probabilities of MS by characteristic in 15–24 years olds were: bullying involvement 36.9% (n = 1293), problematic social media use 55.9%(n = 127), high expressed emotion in family 36.6% (n = 1256), and studying in a vocational program 29.5% (n = 1216) and school located in Bangkok 32.4% (n = 561). Also, substance use was a risk for MS with cannabis use at 41.8%(n = 55) and heroin use at 48.0% (n = 25). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that female gender, having a family history of mental problems, bullying involvement, problematic social media use, high expression of emotion in the family, and the interaction between vocational program enrollments and metropolitan/urban residence associated adolescent mood swings (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that the pattern of mood swings was associated with significant bullying involvement, social media use, family circumstance, and school characteristics. The public needs greater awareness of MS patterns and the positive implications of MS screening. Early preventive interventions that may limit later mental illness are needed.