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Introduction: Mental health problems appear to be increasing in importance in Africa. Mental and substance use disorders were the leading cause of yearly lived with disability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence from previous studies shows considerable variation in the prevalence of these disorders. The most acceptable explanation for this wide variation is likely to be the fact that socio cultural factors are major determinants of mental disorders. Therefore a mental disorder has to be understood in a specific setting to develop effective and tailored interventions Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of common mental disorders among adult residents in Silte Zone, southern Ethiopia Methods: Community based cross sectional the study was conducted in the study area. A total of 1178 adults were selected by using a three stage systematic sampling technique. Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Both bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with common mental disorders. Result: The prevalence of common mental disorders among adults found to be 39.7%. Increased age (OR = 1.114; 95% CI = 1.095, 1.134), being female (OR = 9.421; 95% CI = 5.947, 14.926), poor social support (OR = 1.987; 95% CI = 1.358, 2.907) and having life threatening experience (OR = 2.162; 95% CI = 1.825, 2.562) were significantly associated with common mental disorders. Conclusion: In the study, the magnitude of common mental disorders remains high in the study area. Increased age, being female, poor social support and having life threatening experience were significantly associated with common mental disorders. Key words: Common mental disorders, self-reporting questionnaire, social support, Ethiopi