Psychological Well-Being (PWB) of School Adolescents Aged 12-18 yr, its Correlation with General Levels of Physical Activity (PA) and Socio-Demographic Factors In Gilgit, Pakistan

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage marked by complex transitions. The purpose of study was to assess school adolescents’ PWB, examine the relationship of PA and socio-demographic factors with PWB. A cross sectional study conducted in five randomly selected schools with 345 adolescents (aged 12-18) from grade 6th-10th. A self-administered Well-Being index was adapted to measure PWB and questionnaire for adolescents PA (PAQ-A). Socio-demographic variables determined: age, gender, household income and parental education. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses performed to examine the association between PWB, PA and covariates. Findings indicated the mean age 14.64 (SD=1.275), 55.4% were female. Without gender difference the majority (43.4%) of adolescents showed moderate, while (23.2%) revealed low level of PWB. Participants with low level likely to have depression but scores were significantly not different between low, moderate and high PWB with PA. Socio-demographic trends of adolescents’ were observed significant (P <0.005) for PWB. In multivariable analysis the mean wellbeing in females adjusted for other covariates was significant (P =0.004) than males. PWB importantly (P <0.001) decreased by 3.36 units as its covariates increased and PA score in boys found 0.05 unit more than girls. The study results are invaluable in addressing low, moderate and high levels of PWB. Inadequate PA and PWB decreasing with some socio-demographic covariates is crucial health issue among female adolescents in Pakistan. Further studies need to find barrier, social indicators of PWB and implication of health among adolescents.