A comparative study on psychological distress between rural and urban youth of Assam

The changing world has thrown new challenges to youth in India. This has resulted in the rise of mental health issues among younger population. A possible factor that can have moderating effect on mental health issues is the urbanicity with its better opportunities, facilities and services. The present study was designed to examine the effect of urbanicity on the mental health of youth in Assam. Participants: Rural (N=200) and urban (N=200) youth were recruited through purposive sampling from the Dhemaji district of Assam. Participants were compared on Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) to assess anxiety and depression. Results: Psychological distress was found to be significantly higher among the rural and the tribal participants. No significant difference was found among male and female participants on psychological distress. When univariate ANOVA was used to see the effect of group, gender, and ethnicity on psychological distress of youth, no significant effect was found. Conclusion: This study shows that demographic variables like rurality, urbanicity and ethnicity, clubbed with socio-economic and social upheavals, have been significantly playing a role on the psychological distress of youth.