Booth Id:
BMED036
Category:
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Year:
2022
Finalist Names:
Gross, Natalie (School: Timber Lake High School)
Abstract:
Mental health is a very prevalent issue in the world today. There are many studies on how physical and mental health affect each other. This study's goal was to discover the relationship between mental and physical health in adolescence. A survey was made in order to evaluate the physical and mental condition of each participant. The physical condition was based on the number of times the individual was sick in the last 30 days. The mental condition was based on a scoring system using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D. The data was sent to a spreadsheet and analyzed. Each individual was given a point on a scatter plot based on two variables: the number of days the participant was sick in the last 30 days and the participant's CES-D score. Other information was derived from the data, too. The graphs showed very little correlation between the number of days a participant was sick and the condition of the participant's mental health. However, another interesting finding was made: participant's with poor mental health generally struggle with insecurities and self-image. The low correlation found in this study may be due to the fact that the study was fairly small compared to others. Although the graphs showed almost no correlation, the project was still successful because the findings revealed other important information.