الفهرس 
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Abstract
Depressive disorders are an increasing proportion of the global burden of disease in both developed and developing countries .Population base rates of adolescent depression are also increasing with strong continuities into adulthood reported. Depression is strongly associated with suicide which is the second most common cause of death amongst 15–24 year. Against this background of increasing concern about youth suicide, the UK and other countries have set ambitious targets for prevention. This can be achieved by early recognition of established depression in the community. It has been suggested that the primary setting for the identification of depression in adolescence may be the school rather than the GP surgery. Teachers are well placed to observe some of the hallmarks of depression in this age group, e.g. irritability, social withdrawal and cognitive decline, which otherwise may be dismissed as teenage moodiness, ill temper or laziness. Schools also have a ready-made referral pathway which accesses parents, GPs, community mental health professionals and specialized mental health services for their pupils. If teachers can gain a better understanding of the nature of depression and how to recognize it, they are in an ideal position to take appropriate steps to facilitate treatment through this established triage system. The aim of the study was to: • To identify the teachers and students’ knowledge and opinions about adolescents’ depression.
A quantitative method in a descriptive design used to achieve the previous aim. Research Setting: The current study was conducted at 6 secondary schools from Shebin El- Kom, Menofia governate. Shebin El Kom Educational Administration consists of (21) secondary schools (7 schools for boys only, 8 schools for girls and 6 schools for both sexes). Then 2 schools from each group were randomly selected. Subjects: One class from each grade from each school was randomly selected. The total number of students is 750students and 100 teachers were randomly selected from the same schools of students. The following tools were used to fulfill the aim of the study: Two tools were used for data collection based on extensive review of literature. These tools were: - Tool 1:-• part one :- Socio demographic data; It included data about students’ socio demographic characteristics as (age, sex, grade, Number of family members, marital status of the parents) .For the teachers it includes (age, sex, qualifications, years of experience and marital status).• Part two: Adolescent Depression Knowledge Questionnaire (ADKQ); It was developed and modified by the researcher using Swartz et al., (1999) scale to measure the teachers and students’ knowledge about depression. It consists of (102) questions, these questions are divided into (7) groups. Tool 2:- Teachers’ opinions about Adolescents’ Depression: • Part one: It was constructed and translated by the researcher using (Moor etal., 2005). It includes 11questions related to the teachers’ opinions about adolescent depression. • Part two:- It was developed by the researcher based on extensive review of relevant literature. It includes questions related to the teachers’ knowledge about the warning signs of depression in the class room (8) questions and (3) open ended questions related to the teacher’ knowledge about the current policy of the school for the referral of depressed students and the knowledge they need to ascertain and help the depressed students. • The main results of the study showed that: • Regarding students’ sex they are nearly equally selected (50.8%) were males. • The mean age of the selected group was (16) years old and the majority of them were in the second grade of secondary school (44.1%). • More than 90% of students have poor knowledge about the treatment of depression.• More than 50% of students have poor knowledge about definition and criteria, clinical manifestation and complications categories of adolescents’ depression There is no significant difference between the students’ level of knowledge and their age, sex and grade of school. • Regarding teachers, 60% of the sample was male, the qualification of the majority was university 83% of the sample and their years of experience were more than 10years. • More than three quarters of teachers have poor knowledge in response to the different categories of depression. There is no significant correlation between the teachers’ level of knowledge and their age, sex and years of experience.• Concerning teachers’ opinions about adolescents’ depression, only 18% of teachers feel confident about their knowledge of depressive symptoms.• 89%of teachers though that depression is part of normal adolescence and this is considered an alarming range.• More than three quarters of teachers agreed that schools cannot cope with depressed students.• The majority of teachers successfully identified warning signs of depression.• Less than 50% of teachers knew the policy of school in dealing with depressed student.• Most of the teachers recommended organization of training courses or programs about management of depression and clarification of the role of school and teachers regarding depressed student. It was recommended to generalize this study to other psychiatric disorder like suicide, anxiety disorder, adolescent abuse and eating disorder to assess the adolescents’ mental health literacy generally. Assessing the community mental health literacy (parents, teachers, friends in the school and health care professionals). Develop a health care program to increase the students and teachers’ awareness of adolescent’ depression and how to manage it. Initiate a broad school based program to educate the school personals and family about the nature of adolescence period and how to manage it. Training courses are need for the school nurses to improve their knowledge and practice about psychiatric disorders specially Adolescents’ depression.