Adolescent anxiety: considering personality, resilience, sex, age and experience as vulnerability factors
Authors
Dowling, Claire
Issue Date
2018
Degree
Higher Diploma in Arts in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Anxiety disorders have been identified as one of the most prevalent mental health disorders encountered by adolescents. A number of risk factors have been identified as contributors to the development and maintenance of anxiety. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence and predictors of anxiety within an adolescent cohort by examining variables with a possible association to this risk. Personality, resilience, sex, age and previous experience to mental health were considered in relation to anxiety levels. A correlation between subject’s quantitative design was adopted using self-report questionnaires. The sample consisted of 92 adolescents, 53 males and 39 females. The findings indicate that females report higher levels of anxiety than males. Furthermore, the personality variables neuroticism and introversion were found to have moderate to strong association to anxiety levels. Resilience was found to be a strong predictor of lower levels of anxiety.