International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | September 2021 | Vol 9 | Issue 9 Page 2723 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Ranjan LK et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2021 Sep;9(9):2723-2727 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Self-esteem and wellbeing among tribal and non-tribal adolescent girls Lokesh Kumar Ranjan 1 *, Pramod R. Gupta 2 , Nilesh Maruti Gujar 3 INTRODUCTION The indigenous tribal population has a rural and remote location for inhabitation. They lag behind from healthcare, social and developmental services. 1,2 Indian population comprised 8.6% of tribal population and 9% among them were adolescents in the 2011 census of India. 3 It has been found that a larger proportion of tribal adolescents exhibit depressive and anxiety symptoms. 4,5 Self-esteem has a significant negative relation with emotional and behavioral problems in the adolescent period. 6 High self-esteem is considered to be a prominent marker of happiness, life satisfaction and wellbeing. 4,7 On the other hand, poor self-esteem results in frustration, poor self-confidence, anger, anxiety, depression and other emotional and behavioral problems. 8 Studies have found that self-esteem level notably decreases during adolescence, especially in girls. 9,10 In another study, Ali et al studied emotional and behavioral problems among tribal adolescents in Jharkhand state reported the prevalence of emotional (5.12%), conduct (9.61%), hyperactivity (4.23%) and peer relationship (1.41%) problems at an abnormal level. 11 The adolescent from the tea tribe area of Assam found to have elevated emotional, conduct and peer 1 Department of Psychiatric Social Work, Central India Institute of Mental Health and Neuro sciences, Dewada, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India 2 Department of Psychiatry, Central India Institute of Mental Health and Neuro sciences, Dewada, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India 3 Department of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam, India Received: 21 June 2021 Revised: 23 July 2021 Accepted: 27 July 2021 *Correspondence: Lokesh Kumar Ranjan, E-mail: lokeshr00@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Adolescent period reports experiences of changes in physical, mental and social functions. Self-esteem has a significant contribution to wellbeing and depression in adolescent. The aim and objective was to evaluate self- esteem and wellbeing among adolescent girls with tribal and non-tribal ethnicity. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in which 2 schools and 1 institute selected using purposive sampling. The total enumeration method of random sampling was obtained to select participants. Total of 360 adolescent girls (180 each tribal and non-tribal adolescent girls) were selected for the study. Socio-demographic datasheet, adolescent wellbeing scale and Rosenberg self-esteem scale were used for the assessment. Results: The adolescent girls with tribal ethnicity found to have low self-esteem and wellbeing (depressive) compared to adolescent girls with non-tribal ethnicity. 33.9% of tribal adolescent girls and 13.3% of non-tribal adolescent girls found in depressive dimension. Conclusions: The deliberate efforts to build self-esteem and wellbeing among tribal adolescent girls can help to promote their mental health. The mental health promotion and wellness programs specific to ethnicity and culture requires to uphold the wellbeing of the adolescent girls with tribal ethnicity. Keywords: Self-esteem, Wellbeing, Adolescent, Girls, Depression, Tribal and non-tribal ethnicity DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20213414