{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T18:03:59Z","timestamp":1780077839542,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780012800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosmentalhealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Ment Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Adolescent depression is a growing public health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where mental health resources are limited. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms among secondary school adolescents in the Dodoma and Pwani Regions of Tanzania and to explore associations with key demographic factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1009 secondary school adolescents in the Dodoma and Pwani regions of Tanzania. The Swahili version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Descriptive statistics were used to determine prevalence, while associations between depression scores and demographic variables were analysed using Chi-square, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, with the magnitude of association reported as Cram\u00e9r\u2019s V for the Chi-square test. Overall, 62% of adolescents exhibited depressive symptoms ranging from mild to severe, with 37% mild, 17% moderate, 6% moderately severe, and 2% severe. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with age, region, gender, and parental living arrangement (p\u2009&lt;\u20090.05). A higher prevalence was observed among females, adolescents aged 14\u201317 years, residents of Dodoma, and those living with a single parent. Effect size analysis indicated a strong association with region and a moderate association with parental living arrangement, while gender and age showed smaller but meaningful associations. Depression among Tanzanian adolescents in Dodoma and Pwani is prevalent and significantly associated with key demographic and psychosocial factors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmen.0000518","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T17:26:15Z","timestamp":1780075575000},"page":"e0000518","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmen.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence of depressive symptoms among secondary school adolescents in Dodoma and Pwani, Tanzania"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1846-609X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Divine Patrick","family":"Mwaluli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amani Angumbwike","family":"Mwakalapuka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2114-915X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joshua Joel","family":"Matiku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7038-7907","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jamal Jumanne","family":"Athuman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000518.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1111\/bjc.12333","article-title":"Global prevalence of depression and elevated depressive symptoms among adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"61","author":"S Shorey","year":"2022","journal-title":"Br J Clin Psychol"},{"issue":"9820","key":"pmen.0000518.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1056","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(11)60871-4","article-title":"Depression in adolescence","volume":"379","author":"A Thapar","year":"2012","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"pmen.0000518.ref003","article-title":"Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication","author":"RC Kessler","year":"2005","journal-title":"Archives of General Psychiatry"},{"issue":"10036","key":"pmen.0000518.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2423","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(16)00579-1","article-title":"Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing","volume":"387","author":"GC Patton","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"issue":"1","key":"pmen.0000518.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1111\/tmi.13336","article-title":"Factors associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behaviours amongst sub-Saharan African adolescents aged 10-19 years: cross-sectional study","volume":"25","author":"A Nyundo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Trop Med Int Health"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000518.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0193145","article-title":"Association between HIV status and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents in the Southern Highlands Zone, Tanzania: a case-control study","volume":"13","author":"A Lwidiko","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000518.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1007\/s00787-019-01469-4","article-title":"Why do children and adolescents (not) seek and access professional help for their mental health problems? 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