Background: Depression is a significant global health concern with increasing prevalence among adolescents. Depression negatively impacts academic performance, attendance, and engagement in school activities. Investigating the link between depression and academic outcomes among school-going adolescents can provide insights into the educational implications and potential long-term consequences of depressive symptoms. Understanding the risk of depression is essential for identifying gaps in mental health service accessibility and availability for adolescents. This can inform strategies to improve access to appropriate mental health care and reduce the treatment gap. Diverse cultural and social norms can influence the experience, expression, and management of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Examining how familial and societal factors contribute to the risk of depression in this age group is important for tailoring interventions. Depression often coexists with other health conditions, and untreated depression during adolescence can have long-term consequences, including increased risk of substance abuse, self-harm, and chronic mental health issues. Hence, understanding the risk of depression is crucial for comprehensive healthcare planning. Objectives: To study the proportion of risk of depression, the severity of risk of depression and the various socioeconomic factors with relevance to risk of depression in adolescent school going children. Method: Cross-sectional Descriptive study. Adolescent students studying in Standards 8th to 10th of a Secondary School in Sangli Miraj Kupwad Corporation. A Secondary School was selected by Simple Random Sampling from a list of schools in the corporation. Written consent from the school Principal was obtained. Informed assent from children and consent from parents/guardians was also obtained, ensuring confidentiality of responses. Data was collected using a proforma, including epidemiological, medical, family, personal, scholastic, and socioeconomic history, along with physical and anthropometric examinations. A self-administered questionnaire based on the Patient Health Questionnaire for adolescent population (PHQ-9A) was provided to assess the severity of risk of depression. Results: Out of 193 students, 174 students were included in the study. Out of the 174 assessed, 57 (32.75%) students were found to be at risk of depression. Students in the age group of 13.06 to 15 years were at higher risk of depression (p value=0.02). 91 male students and 83 female students were studies, 35 (42.16%) of females were found to be at risk of depression (p value=0.05) and females were found to be at 2.287 times more risk of depression than males (p=0.0181). 40 (22.98%) students had mild risk of depression while 4 (2.29%) had severe risk of depression. Loss of appetite (22.98%) (p value=0.012), Binge eating (18.39%) (p value=0.033) and excessive lethargy (37.93%) (p value<0.001) were some of the most common symptoms associated with risk of depression. Psychiatric disorders in family (9.19%) (p value=0.024), addiction in family (20.11%) (p value=0.001) and separation of parents (6.32%) (p value<0.001) had a significant association with risk of depression. Bullying in school (16.67%) (p value=0.001) and recent fall in scholastic performance (21.26%) (p=0.008) are seen in adolescents with risk of depression. Conclusion: Several factors such as loss of appetite, binge eating, excessive lethargy, psychiatric disorders in family, addiction in family, separation of parents, bullying in school and recent fall in scholastic performance showed statistical significance (p-values<0.05), suggesting a significant association with the risk of depression. Females were found to be at more risk of depression than males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]