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Anxiety among Adolescents and Young Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Heba Jafar Sabbagh

    (Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia)

  • Wafaa Abdelaziz

    (Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Waleed Alghamdi

    (Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia)

  • Maryam Quritum

    (Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Nada AbuBakr AlKhateeb

    (Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia)

  • Joud Abourdan

    (Medical Faculty, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul 34230, Turkey)

  • Nafeesa Qureshi

    (City Quay Dental Practice and Implant Centre, Dundee DD1 3JA, UK)

  • Shabnum Qureshi

    (Department of Education, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India)

  • Ahmed H. N. Hamoud

    (Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

  • Nada Mahmoud

    (Faculty of Dentistry, National Ribat University, Khartoum 1111, Sudan)

  • Ruba Odeh

    (College of Dentistry, Ajman University, Ajman P.O. Box 346, United Arab Emirates)

  • Nuraldeen Maher Al-Khanati

    (Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Syrian Private University, Damascus 368, Syria)

  • Rawiah Jaber

    (General Courses, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdulrahman Loaie Balkhoyor

    (Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mohammed Shabi

    (University of Jeddah, Jeddah 23218, Saudi Arabia)

  • Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan

    (Department of Child Dental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria)

  • Omolola Alade

    (Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria)

  • Noha Gomaa

    (Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada)

  • Raqiya Alnahdi

    (Department of Dental Surgery, Oman Dental College, Muscat 116, Oman)

  • Nawal A. Mahmoud

    (Institute of Creative Art and Design (ICAD), Kuala Lumpur Campus, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia)

  • Hanane El Wazziki

    (Department of Cereal Plant Pathology, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Rabat 10090, Morocco)

  • Manal Alnaas

    (Division of Imaging Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK)

  • Bahia Samodien

    (Western Cape Education Department, Cape Town 8001, South Africa)

  • Rawa A. Mahmoud

    (Musculoskeletal Center, International Medical Center, Jeddah 21451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Nour Abu Assab

    (Schools of Awqaf, Directorate of Education, Jerusalem, Palestine)

  • Sherin Saad

    (Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Box 431, 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Sondos G. Alhachim

    (Health Education Services, Ingham County, Lansing, MI 48933, USA)

  • Maha El Tantawi

    (Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21561, Egypt)

Abstract

(1) Background: Adolescents-and-young-adults (AYA) are prone to anxiety. This study assessed AYA’s level of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic; and determined if anxiety levels were associated with country-income and region, socio-demographic profile and medical history of individuals. (2) Methods: A survey collected data from participants in 25 countries. Dependent-variables included general-anxiety level, and independent-variables included medical problems, COVID-19 infection, age, sex, education, and country-income-level and region. A multilevel-multinomial-logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between dependent, and independent-variables. (3) Results: Of the 6989 respondents, 2964 (42.4%) had normal-anxiety, and 2621 (37.5%), 900 (12.9%) and 504 (7.2%) had mild, moderate and severe-anxiety, respectively. Participants from the African region (AFR) had lower odds of mild, moderate and severe than normal-anxiety compared to those from the Eastern-Mediterranean-region (EMR). Also, participants from lower-middle-income-countries (LMICs) had higher odds of mild and moderate than normal-anxiety compared to those from low-income-countries (LICs). Females, older-adolescents, with medical-problems, suspected-but-not-tested-for-COVID-19, and those with friends/family-infected with COVID-19 had significantly greater odds of different anxiety-levels. (4) Conclusions: One-in-five AYA had moderate to severe-anxiety during the COVID-19-pandemic. There were differences in anxiety-levels among AYAs by region and income-level, emphasizing the need for targeted public health interventions based on nationally-identified priorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Heba Jafar Sabbagh & Wafaa Abdelaziz & Waleed Alghamdi & Maryam Quritum & Nada AbuBakr AlKhateeb & Joud Abourdan & Nafeesa Qureshi & Shabnum Qureshi & Ahmed H. N. Hamoud & Nada Mahmoud & Ruba Odeh & N, 2022. "Anxiety among Adolescents and Young Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10538-:d:896200
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cuiyan Wang & Riyu Pan & Xiaoyang Wan & Yilin Tan & Linkang Xu & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger C. Ho, 2020. "Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Julio Torales & Marcelo O’Higgins & João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia & Antonio Ventriglio, 2020. "The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(4), pages 317-320, June.
    3. Elizabeth A. K. Jones & Amal K. Mitra & Azad R. Bhuiyan, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health in Adolescents: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-9, March.
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