Prevalence of anxiety and associated factors in grade five students in Bangkok.

Abstract

Background : A lot of studies on depression in children and adolescents have been done. But anxiety in children is however an issue that has been so little studied.

Objective : To study the prevalence of anxiety and associated factors among grade five students in Bangkok.

Design : A cross – sectional descriptive study.

Setting : Bangkok Metropolis

Materials and Methods : Data were collected from 170 students in 37 primary schools in Bangkok by multistage random sampling. The instruments were: 1) General background: 2) Thai State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for children-Revised (STAIC-R). Univariate analyses (e.g. Chi-square and t-Test) were used to examine associated factors with anxiety in children: multivariate analysis was used to determine the predictors of anxiety in children among this group of grade five students.

Results : The overall prevalence of State and Trait Anxiety in grade five students in Bangkok were 32.9% and 33.5% respectively. From both of univariate analysis and multivariate, there were significant differences of prevalence for anxiety in factor of living with parent (p <0.05).

Conclusion : In this study, the prevalence of anxiety in primary school students in Bangkok was higher than other studies. The finding of the risk factors will help related persons or organizations to provide appropriate assistances.