Articles

Association Between Personal Hygiene Practices and Scabies-Like Symptoms Among Students Living in a Sports School Dormitory in Kupang, Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study

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Background: Scabies is a contagious skin disease with a high prevalence in communal living environments such as dormitories. Although personal hygiene is commonly regarded as a key preventive factor, growing evidence suggests that environmental conditions, crowding, and close physical contact may play a more substantial role in scabies transmission. Students living in sports school dormitories represent a population at increased risk due to shared facilities and intensive daily interactions.

Objective: To determine the association between personal hygiene practices and scabies-like symptoms among students residing in the dormitory of a Sports Talent School in Kupang City, Indonesia.

Methods: This analytical observational study employed a cross-sectional design. A total of 59 students aged 14–17 years were selected using simple random sampling. Personal hygiene was assessed using a structured questionnaire, while scabies-like symptoms were identified based on three clinical cardinal signs: nocturnal pruritus, history of close contact with an affected individual, and the presence of lesions at predilection sites. Microscopic confirmation was not performed. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test with a significance level of p < 0.05.

Results: Most respondents demonstrated good personal hygiene practices (80.8%). Scabies-like symptoms were identified in 25.4% of participants. Statistical analysis showed no significant association between personal hygiene status and scabies-like symptoms (p = 0.282). Descriptively, the proportion of scabies-like symptoms was higher among students with poor personal hygiene (41.7%) compared to those with good hygiene (21.3%); however, this difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: No significant association was found between personal hygiene practices and scabies-like symptoms among students living in the Sports Talent School dormitory in Kupang City. These findings suggest that factors beyond individual hygiene, such as dormitory crowding, shared facilities, and close interpersonal contact, may play a more prominent role in scabies transmission in communal living settings.

Understanding the Social Media Rollercoaster: How Resilience and Vulnerability Shape Teen Mental Health

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Background: Social media is a central part of adolescent life, yet its impact on mental health is highly variable.

Objective: To present a synthesized, three-layer framework explaining how individual traits, social environments, and digital behaviors interact to buffer or exacerbate the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health.
Methods: We analyzed key findings from recent studies (2020-2025) identified via a systematic PubMed search, focusing on moderators such as personality, coping styles, social support, and digital literacy.

Results: An adolescent’s experience is shaped by three key layers: The Inner Self (personal traits and coping), the Social Environment (interpersonal support), and Digital Engagement (online skills and use patterns). Low self-esteem, maladaptive coping, lack of social support, low digital literacy, and younger age are key factors that increase vulnerability to negative outcomes from social media use.

Conclusion: The impact of social media is not uniform but conditional. Effective support requires targeted interventions that build self-esteem and coping skills, foster supportive communication, and teach critical digital literacy. This multi-layered approach can help teens navigate the digital world with greater resilience.

The Effect of Health Education on Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Depression Among Eleventh-Grade Students at SMK Umi Kulsum Banjaran Bandung

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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of health education on students’ knowledge and attitudes toward depression among adolescents.

Theoretical Framework: The research is grounded in health behavior theories such as the Health Belief Model and mental health literacy frameworks, emphasizing the role of education in shaping awareness and behavioral responses to mental health issues.

Method: A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used. The sample consisted of 85 eleventh-grade students at SMK Umi Kulsum Banjaran Bandung, selected through total sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires before and after a health education session on depression. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test.

Results and Discussion: The study revealed a statistically significant increase in students’ knowledge (p = 0.000) and attitudes (p = 0.001) regarding depression after the intervention. These results indicate that structured health education effectively enhances awareness and fosters a more positive attitude toward mental health issues in adolescents. Limitations include the absence of a control group and short-term evaluation.

Research Implications: The findings suggest that integrating mental health topics into school-based health education programs can improve mental health literacy among students, potentially leading to earlier recognition and intervention in cases of adolescent depression.

Originality/Value: This research contributes to the growing field of adolescent mental health promotion by demonstrating the practical impact of targeted educational interventions in vocational school settings.

Chasing Validation: Social Media Use, FOMO, and Teen Self-Esteem

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This research seeks to investigate how social media usage correlates with fear of missing out and self-esteem in adolescents. It involved 40 teenagers, evenly split with 20 boys and 20 girls, all within the age range of 14 to 18 years, selected from Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. To evaluate the pertinent variables, the researchers utilizedstandard psychometric assessments. For analyzing the data, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and independent sample t-test were utilized. The results revealed a positive correlation between social media usage and the fear of missing out, as well as a negative correlation with self-esteem. Additionally, a positive relationship was noted between the fear of missing out and levels of self-esteem. There was also a notable difference between genders in their use of social media. Whereas no notable gender differences were found regarding fear of missing out and self-esteem.

A Comprehensive Analysis: Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults with Leukemia: A Systematic Review

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This study focuses on the prevalence of depression among patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). These two forms of leukemia most commonly affect our target population: adolescents and young adult leukemia survivors (AYA-LS) – a population defined as individuals diagnosed with leukemia between the ages of 12 to 39 years old.

Although current literature has employed various assessment tools to evaluate comorbidities like depression and anxiety among LS, these measures have limitations. Such limitations include potential assessment bias stemming from oncologists’ focus on pathology and psychiatrists’ inability to address the distinct suffering experienced by this population fully. For this reason, this study recognizes the age-specific differences in cancer, particularly those diagnosed at a young age. Thus, emphasizing the importance of tailored approaches to address the mental health needs of AYA-LS. This consolidation and review of research holds the potential to advance support and intervention strategies, ultimately enhancing the mental health and overall quality of life for young adult leukemia survivors.

This study relies on electronic databases such as EBSCOhost, the British Journal of Cancer, PubMed, Google Scholar, and publications from the Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM).

The Effect of Health Education with Audiovisual on Increasing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Maintaining Reproductive Health in Vocational School Adolescent Girls

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Reproductive health is one of the most prominent issues in adolescence. Adolescents at this time experience adolescent physical and psychological changes. The cause of this problem is due to the lack knowledge of adolescents about reproductive health. To improve the knowledge of adolescents through reproductive health education. The media used is audiovisual because this media is interesting because it does not only display images or writing, but also with sound so that it is expected to increase knowledge, attitudes, and practices about reproductive health. This study aims to analyze the effect of audiovisual health education on improving adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices about reproductive health. This research method is a Pretest-Posttest Experiment with a control group. The study population was female adolescents at SMK Era Pembangunan 3, with a sample of 30 people. Sampling was done by random sampling. Data analysis using SPSS with Chi-Square test. Statistically obtained the results of the p-value = 0.000 <0.05. So that there is a significant effect of health education with audiovisual on increasing knowledge, attitudes, and practices about maintaining reproductive health in adolescents.

Analysis of Factors in Reducing the Incidence of Anemia in Adolescent Girls at Ummi Kulsum Banjaran SMP Bandung District

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Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood. In Indonesia, around 90% of women menstruate every month, but the onset of menstruation can cause anemia for teenagers who experience it. This is caused by several things, of course because there is irregular bleeding, this is caused by the teenager’s age itself. , parental factors, including education and work, each person’s food intake/nutritional status, and also the menstrual cycle/length of menstruation experienced each month. This research aims to determine the factors associated with the occurrence of anemia in adolescent girls at Umi Kulsum Banjaran Middle School in 2022. The research method used is a quantitative analytical approach research design with a cross sectional research design. The research population was all 120 female students and the sample used was 55 people using the random sampling technique. Data collection was carried out by means of interviews and direct examination of respondents. Data analysis went through three stages, univariate (frequency distribution), bivariate (chi square) and multivariate analysis (Logistic Regression). The results of the research show that there are factors that are associated with the incidence of anemia in adolescent girls, including age, nutritional status and length of menstruation with a p-value <0.05. It is recommended that students increase their knowledge about reproductive health, especially those related to enstruation, educational institutions can optimize education about adolescent reproductive health by collaborating with health workers in the surrounding environment.

Obesity as a Problem in Children and Adolescents: Literature Review

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Obesity in children and adolescents affects health worldwide and is linked to premature death, comorbidities in the cardiometabolic and psychosocial systems, and other conditions. The problem of obesity in children and adolescents is 10% for children aged 5 to 17 years and 2-3.5% for teenagers, according to the most recent official data. The number of adolescents and children in Indonesia who suffer dietary deficiencies has risen every year. Adolescent obesity is caused by a variety of factors. The effects of childhood obesity can range from psychosocial effects to lifelong clinical changes like hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome, orthopedic disorders, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), asthma, fatty liver disease, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Local, regional, and global efforts are encouraged by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) strategy on diet, physical activity, and healthier lifestyle.

The Effect of Caffeine Consumption on Teenager’s Mental Health in Bangkok, Thailand

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Nowadays, caffeinated drinks play a significant role not only for adults but also for teenagers. Some teenagers believe that it will help them with their school tasks, such as exams, projects, and more. Many research projects have also claimed that caffeine can help people become more energized and less tired [10]. Along with mental health, indicating that it is important, it is vital to maintain good mental health since it can make a huge impact on our daily lives [7]. We are curious about the relationship between caffeine consumption and teenagers’ mental health. So we decided to conduct a survey on teenagers ages 13-18. The data was collected online using Google Form and by sending questionnaires about the effect of caffeine consumption on teenager’s mental health in Bangkok, Thailand. We have gathered a total of 150 responses from students in grades between 7 and 12 mostly from Bangkok. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 29 was used for data analysis. The results have shown that there is a slight significant effect of caffeinated drinks on teenager’s mental health, which involves the times of the day teenagers prefer to drink caffeinated drinks (p-value = 0.001). Despite the consumption period,  the types of caffeinated drinks teenagers prefer (p-value = 0.163) and the participant’s grade level (p-value = 0.448) may have also affected adolescents too. Moreover, the result of this research came out that caffeinated drinks have nearly no effect on teenager’s mental health, but they do have an effect specifically on the period of time that the teenagers consume caffeinated drinks. From our data, we can conclude that caffeinated drinks, especially tea, will significantly affect teenagers’ mental health if consumed after lunch (afternoon). This research will help raise awareness on the effect of caffeinated drinks on teenagers ages 13-18 on their mental health and also provides us with more information for further research.

The Impact of Using Social Media on the Mental Health of Adolescents

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Social media usage has exponentially risen over the past decade, with about 4.26 billion social media users in 2021, and it is projected to increase to almost 6 billion by 2027. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, leading to a significant increase in social media usage. However, excessive social media use may lead to negative impacts on mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and social isolation. This research aims to investigate the impact of social media on the mental health of Thai teenagers, identify potential correlations between social media use and mental health outcomes, and develop strategies to mitigate the negative effects of social media on mental health. The questionnaires gather the participants’ general information, the effects of utilizing social media, and the social media events that affect their mental health. With a total of 272 respondents, a survey distributed online to high school students from March 26 to May 6 was randomly chosen. According to our study, the type of school has a significant effect on the student’s mental health. This is due to the fact that different high school students use social media in different ways and experience different effects on their mental health in both positive and negative ways. Statistics also reveal that youths in Thailand are more likely to be addicted to social media and use a variety of social media platforms. This study could serve as a guideline for further studies that specifically focus on the kinds of social media platforms used by adolescents and the kinds of content they consume.