Anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders tend to be the most common mental illness affecting millions of college students in the United States and tend to be highly treatable; however, very few populations receive the necessary treatment. It is common that the students who suffer from an anxiety disorder as well get diagnosed with depression hence prompting the individuals to seek mental health services from recognized institutions. College students do have a heavy load of assignments,  extracurricular activities as well as parttime jobs. Also, it is a transition period as they must cope with the stress of choosing a career concerning education goals; hence anxiety is prevalent among the college population. The study is aimed at investigating the percentage of college students who report anxiety levels, and participants were 500 randomly selected from two colleges, given that they are diverse in composition.  The prevalent anxiety was 30%, and the characteristics of the sample were related to gender, where the female population represented a high number, groupage, parent employment status as well as family income. It is evident that the anxiety level was determined by gender, family income, and previous academic performance

Mental health challenges in colleges have been of global concern as they contribute to poor performance and the burden of disease. Various methods could be employed for the actual study, which includes:

Use of instruments

The use of instruments is a perfect method to test the anxiety level of the college students by use of The Beck Anxiety Inventory instrument as it measures the construct of anxiety based on scale ranges. A score of 0-7 is interpreted as a minimal level of stress,8-18 being mild and 16-25 as moderate, whereas 26-63 explained a severe level of anxiety. By using the instrument, clear information is achieved concerning the sample chosen. Also, an application can be installed in the individual’s phones that can passively sense data from the GPS for two weeks, given that it is a dynamic way of tracking the college students’ information concerning anxiety and depression as they are related. Symptoms and Asset Screening scale can be used as it assesses the psychological distress, depressive symptoms, anxiety levels, eating problems, and wellbeing of the students concerning the current behavior of anxiety levels. Each student should be encouraged to read the individual result and give an overview of how accurate the measurement is through their experiences. Also, the multidimensional Anxiety scale is essential as it provides a great achievement of the factors that cause anxiety among college students.

Data Analysis

Data analysis entails the application of statistical techniques to describe and interpret data, and it’s the best method that can be applied in the research. Analysis can be conducted by use of SPSS by calculating descriptive characteristics of the demographic and socioeconomic factors as well as anxiety symptoms. The use of Pearson chi-square is used to discover the relationship between various categories of variables in the chosen sample. As well Analysis of variance is very significant as it can be used to explore differences that re exhibited in the sample group. In the data analysis method, the application of linear and multiple regressions is essential as they examine the influence of demographic and socioeconomic variables on the anxiety levels of students.

Participation and procedure

Given that it is across a sectional study conducted in a sample population from three colleges, the student’s participation must be voluntary with informed consent, which must be obtained. As well, ethical approval must be ensured for the research to be conducted. In the case of the actual study, students will be requested to fill self-administered questionnaires as they must fill the forms and return them for calculations of the sample size by use of confidence level. The distribution demographic characteristics must be taken into consideration to achieve an accurate figure. Participants answer anonymous demographic questions hence rely on the results.

Use of Neural network-based prediction method

It is a vital method to apply in the case of the study by predicting the anxiety symptoms concerning the daily mobility routine of college students. The following mobility information must be extracted that is the cumulative amount of time spent at a different location, visits distribution, and frequency of transitions. The evaluation of the mobility characteristics tends to evaluate the relationship between social anxiety level and movement patterns within the college setting.

Data collection is very paramount, and it will involve asking questionnaires.

Results

From preexisting studies results, I anticipate many effects concerning anxiety levels of the college students, and its evident tha most of the female participants do face high anxiety levels. Thus it is related to gender, given that many female students living with a single mother who does not work always show high levels of anxiety due to the stress factor associated with the lifestyle. As well the family income is a factor that increases the anxiety levels as it contributes to stress among the students. Also, an anticipated result could be that the educational pressures and social lifestyle are factors that contribute to anxiety among students. Also, the anticipation of mobility factors can be correlated with the anxiety levels, given that location entropy is always negatively associated with stress, and many college students increase mobility during the weekend. College students are related to common mobility patterns daily, such as class time mobility, given that there is a specific schedule.

Discussion

Anxiety disorder is a challenge that has been experienced in the world, especially among college students, and it is related to socioeconomic stressors that significantly contribute to anxiety. Anxiety is similar to depression, and this leads to poor performance, and as a  result, the students seek medical services from recognized institutions. For a research study on the percentage of students who report anxiety levels, a sample is randomly selected by considering factors like gender and socioeconomic factors to enhance demographic distribution. The various method can be employed for the study like the use of data analyses, instruments, participation, and procedure as well as the use of the Neural network-based prediction method. Through the past studies, it’s evident that the anxiety levels are correlated to the heavy workload in addition to the extracurricular activities that the students need to participate in, not forgetting that many hold full-time position jobs. The study is associated with gender variables in such a way that the female students tend to have a high prevalence of anxiety as compared to the male student’s Students with high anxiety levels tend to be depressed, and indeed, college life is related to pressure. Thus college students are considered to be most vulnerable to the development of depression. The best intervention should be strengthening the mental health programs to facilitate the examination of individuals with anxiety problems hence access to health services.

Conclusion

Anxiety is a factor that tends to interfere with the students well being hence affecting the overall academic performance. It is prudent to make early detection of the mental problems for the main aim of determining the relevant interventions to curb the anxiety problem. It is vital for various states to institute mental health programs that critically examine the anxiety levels of students as well as the general population in the society.