Psychosocial Status of Individuals Aged 6-16 Years and Their Family APGAR in Ardabil City

Disease and incapacity are common challenges for families. Psychosocial problems experienced by every member of the family have an impact on the whole family system. According to the Department of Health and Human Services estimates, the number of children with mental health problems ranges from 7.7 to 12.8 million. Furthermore, two thirds of young people with mental health problems are deprived from any support. This study was performed to investigate psychosocial status of 6-16 years individuals in Ardabil city and their family APGAR in 2004. In a descriptive study 380 students were randomly selected using stratified cluster sampling method. Data were collected through PSC (pediatric symptoms checklist containing 35 questions) as well as the APGAR questionnaire containing 25 questions and 5 questions on students’ demographic specification. Data analysis was performed by descriptive statistics and absolute and relative numerical frequency distribution using SPSS software and the results were reported in 8 tables. Findings indicated that 51.5% of samples aged 6-11 years, 50% being male and 50% female. Based on PSC, scores of 55.3% students were higher than 28. In 89.7% of cases family APGAR was categorized as good. Scores achieved by the majority of students from PSC questionnaire was high. This implies to pay more attention to the problems of students aged 6-16 years. However, the APGAR scores in majority of families were good.