Current Pediatric Research

Background: Anxiety disorders in adolescents can lead to serious psychosomatic problems. Objectives: This study was aimed at determining pattern and factors associated with anxiety disorders among adolescents who attend secondary schools in south east Nigeria. Methods: A total of 1500 adolescents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled by simple random sampling. The questionnaire used was adapted from The Revised Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). The RCMAS is a 37-item self-report inventory used to measure anxiety in children, for clinical purposes (diagnosis and treatment evaluation), educational settings, and for research purposes. Results: Three hundred and eighty-four students 384 (34.1%) had anxiety. On segregation into different components of anxiety 188 (16.7%) had physiological component, 674 (59.9%) had worry and 399 (35.5%) had concentration issues. There was statistical significant association between sex and general anxiety (χ2=30.121, p<0.001). There were statistical significant association between sex and physiological component of anxiety (χ2=10.838, p=0.001), class (χ2=5.546, p=0.009), father’s educational level (χ2=8.306, p=0.016) and mother’s occupation (χ2=12.348, p=0.015). There was statistical significant association between sex and worry component of anxiety (χ2=24.403, p<0.001). There was statistical significant association between sex and concentration component of anxiety (χ2=11.223, p=0.001). Conclusions: All the spectrum of anxiety disorders was present among adolescents in their institution with varying degrees of associated factors.

Author(s): Chinawa AT, Onukwuli VO, Chinawa JM, Mayike P, Nduagubam OC,Odinka PC, Aniwada EC6, Ndukuba AC, Ukoh UC

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