Table 1. Characteristics of adolescents 12 to 18 years of age (n = 518)in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| Characteristic | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Age in years, mean (±SD) | 14 (±1.8) |
| Gender Boys Girls |
201 (38.8) 317 (61.2) |
| Ethnicity Emirati Other Arabs Westerners Asians |
245 (47.4) 201 (39.0) 47 (9.0) 24 (4.6) |
| Daily hours spent on screen in the past 7 days < 1 hour 1 to 2 hours > 2 hours |
51 (34.2) 46 (30.9) 52 (34.9) |
| Share room with others No Yes |
204 (39.6) 311 (60.4) |
| Monthly allowance (1 AED = 3.7 USD) No monthly allowance < 500 AED 500–1000 AED > 1000 AED |
123 (24.0) 221 (43.2) 122 (23.8) 46 (9.0) |
| Ever smoked cigarettes | 62 (12.6) |
| Score on Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, mean (±SD) | 8.1 (± 7.1) |
| Lowest tertile of self-esteem score | 76 (14.7) |
| Middle tertile of self-esteem score | 201 (38.8) |
| Highest tertile of self-esteem score | 241 (46.5) |
| Had been feeling emotionally neglected | 62 (12.1) |
| Had been verbally abused in school | 174 (34.0) |
| Had been physically abused (bullied) in school | 65 (12.6) |
| History of disease that required use of medications | 82 (15.8) |
| Asthma | 23 (28.1) |
| Anemia | 21 (25.6) |
| Allergy | 14 (17.1) |
| Others | 24 (29.3) |
| Score on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale, mean (±SD) | 20.9 (± 4.5) |
| No depressive symptoms (0–13 points) | 429 (82.8) |
| Mild depressive symptoms (14–19 points) | 47 (9.1) |
| Moderate to severe depressive symptoms (≥ 20 points) | 42 (8.1) |