The Social Determinants of Depression among Adolescents in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Scoping Review Protocol

Author(s):

Isayas Wubshet*, Kibur Engedawor, Semere Gebremariam, Clementine Kanazayire and Pamela Abbott

Background: Adolescence is an important and stressful period characterized by rapid biological, psychological and social changes. Early signs of depression often emerge during early adolescence. Apart from biological and psychological factors, the interaction among different social factors in the family, school and neighborhood plays a significant role in determining depression among adolescents. Although depression is highly prevalent in low and middle income countries, there is a shortage of comprehensive scoping reviews that examine the social factors and their relationships.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to gain an understanding of the social determinants of adolescent depression in family, school and neighborhood settings.

Method and analysis: This protocol will adhere to framework for conducting scoping reviews, carefully detailing each stage of the process. Firstly, we will use predetermined keywords to systematically search across eight electronic resources. Two reviewers will then carefully assess the titles and abstracts of retrieved studies. Only those deemed pertinent will proceed to full-text screening. Studies will be selected according to established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review team will conduct the data extraction procedure on its own. Finally, the included studies will undergo thorough qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results will be presented at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.