Aim: Adolescents living in orphanages are at a disadvantage with respect to mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of psychological symptoms and their association with the level of physical activity (PA) in adolescents living in orphanages.
Method: The study group consisted of 13-16-year-old adolescents (N=166) living in orphanages in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected cross-sectionally in 2008 via questionnaires, including the Brief Symptom Inventory and Kiddo-KINDL Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data, whereas chi-square, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and t tests were used to compare groups.
Results: Median age of the participants was 16.0 years and 65.7% were male. Female gender, not going to school or work, dissatisfaction with school, contact with the family, chronic disease, chronic medication use, sleep problems, regular tobacco use, chronic disease in the family, and low quality of life score were associated with increased risk (GSI-Global Symptom Index>1 SD) for mental disorders. Physically active adolescents' use of tobacco, alcohol, other substances, and medications, as well as GSI and depression scores were lower and their quality of life scores were higher than those of their less active counterparts.
Conclusion: Prevalence of psychological symptoms in adolescents living in orphanages were higher than in the general adolescent population. Physically active adolescents' mental health indices and abstinence behaviors with regard to tobacco, alcohol, and substances were more favorable. Encouraging adolescents to participate in sports and improving sports facilities in orphanages are interventions that can promote mental health.