The Social Determinants of Depression among Adolescents in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Scoping Review Protocol

Adolescence is a critical and stressful period characterized by rapid biological, psychological, and social changes. Early signs of depression often emerge during early adolescence. Apart from biological and psychological factors, the interplay among different social factors in the family, school, and neighborhood plays a significant role in determining depression among adolescents. Although depression is highly prevalent in low and middle-income countries, there is a shortage of comprehensive scoping reviews that examine the social factors and their relationships. The purpose of this review is to gain an understanding of the social determinants of adolescent depression in family, school, and neighborhood settings. This protocol will adhere to Arksey and O'Malley's framework for conducting scoping reviews, meticulously detailing each stage of the process. Firstly, we will use predetermined keywords to systematically search across eight electronic resources. Two reviewers will then carefully assess the titles and abstracts of retrieved studies. Only those deemed pertinent will proceed to full-text screening. Studies will be selected according to established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review team will conduct the data extraction procedure on its own. Finally, the included studies will undergo thorough qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results will be presented at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Keywords: adolescent depression; social determinants, low and middle income countries, risk factors, protective factors