High Social Capital is Associated with Decreased Mental Health Problem Among In-School Adolescents in Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: The importance of social capital for adolescent mental health has not been explored in low resource settings like Ethiopia. In this study, we examined the association between social capital and mental health problems among in-school adolescents in Harari Regional State, eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 3227 in-school adolescents of 13–19 years. A multistage sampling was used to select participants. Guided self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Mental health problem was measured using a self-administered version of the strength and difficulty questionnaire (SDQ), while social capital questionnaire for adolescent students (SCQ-AS) was used to collect data about the condition of social capital. The data were double entered, validated, and cleaned using EpiData 3.1 and analyzed using STATA 14.1. The association between the outcome variable and predictors was analyzed using an ordinal logistic regression model. The result was reported using an odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval (CI) and a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant association. RESULTS: A total of 740 (22.93%) students had mental health problem, of which 9.7% (95% CI, 8.7–10.8) and 13.20% (95% CI, 12–14) were classified as “abnormal” and “borderline”, respectively. Factors associated with decreased mental health problem were increased network of friends at school (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.58–0.99), increased trust in school or neighborhood (AOR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.44–0.63), and high social cohesion in the community (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.62–0.89). CONCLUSION: Higher social capital is associated with a decreased mental health problem among in-school adolescents. Prevention and treatment of mental health problems require strengthening social capital at school, household, and in the neighborhood.