ANXIETY AMONG STUDENTS: COMPARISON ACROSS AGE, GENDER, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the manifestation of anxiety across gender, age and socio-economic status in school and college going children and adolescents.

Research Design: Cross-sectional study

Place of Study: Schools and Colleges of Karachi, Pakistan.

Sample and Method: The sample of 270 students (135 females & 135 males) of 6 to 19 years of age was randomly selected. The translated and adapted Urdu version (Ahmad & Mansoor, 2011) of Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale, Second Edition (RCMAS-2; Reynolds &Richmond, 2008) was used to estimate the level of anxiety among students.

Result: On the whole prevalence in problematic range of anxiety was 16.6 %. Results demonstrate that 11.1 % male and 22.2 % female students had problematic range of anxiety level. Students of age between 6-8, 9-12, and 13-19 years demonstrated 18.8 %, 22.2 %, and 8.9 % of problematic anxiety level respectively. 43.2% of the students’ belonging to lower socio-economic status, while 4.4% students belonging to middle and 2.2% from upper socio-economic status were found to experience problematic range of anxiety.

Conclusion: The findings from the present results revealed the high prevalence of anxiety in female gender, age group of 9-12 years (especially in males), and lower socio-economic class. These estimates about the prevalence of anxiety exhibit the clear image of morbidity of anxiety among children and adolescents, and are beneficial in planning strategies to deal with anxiety problems.