Does Anxiety Vary by Gender and Race During Adolescence? Alyson Cavanaugh, Kelly A. Cheeseman, and Christine McCauley Ohannessian University of Delaware Abstract The goal of this study was to examine different anxiety disorders by gender and race. The participants consisted of 954 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17 who completed a packet of questionnaires. ANOVA results indicated that girls had significantly higher levels of anxiety symptomatology than boys across all anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, significant school avoidance, social anxiety disorder, and total anxiety. In contrast, the effects for race were not as consistent. A significant effect for race was observed only for separation anxiety disorder, which indicated that Hispanic adolescents had significantly higher levels of separation anxiety than Caucasian adolescents. When clinical levels of anxiety were examined, girls were found to be more likely to meet the clinical criteria for all anxiety disorders than were boys. In addition, Hispanic adolescents were more likely to meet the clinical criteria for social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder than were Caucasian or African American adolescents. These results are consistent with the literature on overall/general anxiety which indicate that girls may have a greater risk of experiencing anxiety in comparison to boys. In contrast, racial differences were only found for separation anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. Results ANOVA Results Gender. Gender was significant in all of the models: generalized anxiety disorder {F (1,881) = 22.24, p<.001}, panic disorder {F (1,875) = 8.52, p<.01}, separation anxiety disorder {F (1,897) = 15.04, p<.001}, significant school avoidance {F (1,905) = 17.04, p<.001}, social anxiety disorder {F (1,892) = 8.16, p<.01}, and total anxiety {F (1,815) = 21.28, p<.001}. In all cases, girls had significantly higher levels of anxiety than boys. Race. A significant effect for race was only observed for separation anxiety disorder {F (3,897) = 2.88, p <.05}. A follow-up test was conducted to evaluate pairwise differences among the means. Based on a 95% confidence interval, Bonferroni test results indicated that Hispanic adolescents had significantly higher levels of separation anxiety than Caucasian adolescents (means = 2.87 and 2.10, respectively). See Table 2 for means and standard deviations of the anxiety scales by race and gender. Gender and Race. There were no significant interactions between gender and race. Chi-Square Results Gender. Gender was significant in all of the analyses: generalized anxiety disorder {χ² (1) = 34.56, p <.001}, panic disorder {χ² (1) = 14.21, p <.001}, separation anxiety disorder {χ² (1) = 20.09, p <.001}, significant school avoidance {χ² (1) = 16.05, p <.001}, social anxiety disorder {χ² (1) = 8.17, p <.01}, and total anxiety {χ² (1) = 39.23, p <.001}. In all cases, girls had significantly higher levels of anxiety than boys. See Figure 1 for the level of anxiety by gender. Race. A significant effect for race was observed for separation anxiety disorder {χ² (3) = 11.19, p <.05} and social anxiety disorder {χ² (3) = 10.66, p <.05}. For separation anxiety disorder, a post-hoc pairwise comparison indicated that Caucasian (x² =.14) and American American (x² =.14) adolescents had significantly lower levels of anxiety than Hispanic adolescents (x² =.27, p <.05). For social anxiety disorder, a post-hoc pairwise comparison indicated that African American adolescents (x² =.12) had significantly lower levels of anxiety than Hispanic adolescents (x² =.26, p <.01). *Supported by NIAAA K01AA Procedures The adolescents in this study participated in a larger research project (The University of Delaware’s Adolescent Adjustment Project). Adolescents were given a packet of questionnaires in school by trained research staff during the spring of The survey took approximately 40 minutes to complete. Upon completion of the packet, adolescents received a free movie pass for participating in the study. Analyses A series of ANOVAs was conducted to examine whether anxiety differed by gender and/or race. Separate models were run for each anxiety subscale and for total anxiety. In addition, a series of chi-square analyses was conducted to examine whether clinical diagnoses of anxiety differed by gender and/or race. Measures Adolescent Anxiety. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED; Birmaher, Khetarpal, Cully, Brent, & McKenzie, 1995) was used to measure adolescent anxiety. The SCARED includes 41-items completed in reference to the last three months, that may be summed to reflect a total anxiety score. In addition, it includes the following separate anxiety disorder scales: generalized anxiety, panic disorder, separation anxiety, significant school avoidance disorder, and social anxiety disorder. These scales can be used as a continuous measure of anxiety or a clinical cut-off score can be calculated. See Table 1 for Cronbach alpha coefficients. Sample 954 adolescent boys (47%) and girls (53%) Diverse sample: 58% Caucasian; 23% African American; 12% Hispanic; 2% Asian; 5% “Other” Age range = years old; Mean age = (SD =.68) All adolescents were 10 th (58%) or 11 th (42%) grade students attending a public high school in Delaware, Maryland, or Pennsylvania Conclusion Consistent with the literature on general anxiety, results from this study indicate that girls have a greater risk of experiencing the specific anxiety disorders in comparison to boys. In contrast, the risk of experiencing anxiety disorders was not consistent across race. Surprisingly, only separation anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder were found to differ by race. There were no significant interactions between gender and race. This study contributes useful information to the literature regarding gender and race differences in anxiety during adolescence. This underscores the importance of examining anxiety differentially by gender and race. 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