A Study to Assess Level of Anxiety and to Identify the Factors Contributing to Anxiety among Adolescents

There are about 1.2 billion adolescents with the age group of 10-19 years, which comprises sixteen percentof world’s population. Studies have shown that excessive stress during the teen years can have a negativeimpact upon both physical and mental health later in life. Putting undue pressure on children for performancein class leads to development of anxiety and granting autonomy was associated in decreasing anxietyamongchildren.Objectives:-i) to assess prevalence of anxiety among adolescents, ii) to analyze the level of anxiety amongadolescents and iii) to identify factors contributing to anxiety among adolescents.Method:- A Quantitative Research Approach with Descriptive Exploratory Research Design was used toconduct the study. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase I total enumeration sampling was usedto assess the prevalence and level of anxiety among 1447 study subjects using standardized tool i.e. StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). In phase II, study subjects who were having high to extremely high stateanxiety scores were selected by Purposive Sampling Technique to find out factors contributing to anxiety.Results : Finding revealed that in phase I majority 51.14% study subjects had average state anxiety followedby 20.73% with high state anxiety as measured by STAI. Regarding contributory factors the main factorcontributing to anxiety among study subjects included parental pressure for good academic performancewith a frequency 58.43% followed by frustration in life 40.98%.Conclusion: The present study confirms the prevalence of anxiety among adolescents and highlights theneed for immediate attention towards strategies in reducing the magnitude of the problem. Their Parentsneed to be counseled about avoiding to put extra pressure for academic performance on their adolescents.Teachers can play a vital role in early identification of anxious adolescents and helping them in promotionof their psychological functioning.