Alia Albinali, Sarah Naja, Noora Al Kaabi, Nagah Slim
{"title":"Screening for anxiety and its determinants among secondary school students during the COVID-19 era: a snapshot from Qatar in 2021.","authors":"Alia Albinali, Sarah Naja, Noora Al Kaabi, Nagah Slim","doi":"10.1007/s44192-022-00014-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anxiety among adolescents may lead to disability and has a tremendous impact on one's quality of life. The alarming COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the anxiety level of adolescents especially with enforced governmental management strategies. This study will assess anxiety symptoms among secondary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study among adolescents attending independent secondary schools in Qatar. First, potential participants were invited through Microsoft teams. Next, a total of 750 participants were assessed through the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) tool. We then conducted descriptive analyses and the Chi-square test to examine significant determinants of anxiety, which was followed by logistic regression analysis. In the end, the scale was tested for its internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Anxiety symptoms were seen in 37.2% of the participants. Female gender, previous history of mental illness, comorbidities, permissive parenting style, and spending more than 12 h per day on the internet were significant determinants of anxiety. Furthermore, a previous history of mental illness, low perceived social support, isolation, and social distancing predicted anxiety.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Anxiety is common among secondary school students in Qatar, and preventive interventions must target the determinants, especially during a pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":72827,"journal":{"name":"Discover mental health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9150388/pdf/","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Discover mental health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-022-00014-1","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/5/30 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Background: Anxiety among adolescents may lead to disability and has a tremendous impact on one's quality of life. The alarming COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the anxiety level of adolescents especially with enforced governmental management strategies. This study will assess anxiety symptoms among secondary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar.
Methods: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study among adolescents attending independent secondary schools in Qatar. First, potential participants were invited through Microsoft teams. Next, a total of 750 participants were assessed through the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) tool. We then conducted descriptive analyses and the Chi-square test to examine significant determinants of anxiety, which was followed by logistic regression analysis. In the end, the scale was tested for its internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha.
Results: Anxiety symptoms were seen in 37.2% of the participants. Female gender, previous history of mental illness, comorbidities, permissive parenting style, and spending more than 12 h per day on the internet were significant determinants of anxiety. Furthermore, a previous history of mental illness, low perceived social support, isolation, and social distancing predicted anxiety.
Conclusions: Anxiety is common among secondary school students in Qatar, and preventive interventions must target the determinants, especially during a pandemic.