Statistical Modeling Approaches and Mechanism Analysis of Factors Influencing Adolescent Anxiety A Multi-Method Empirical Investigation into Biological, Psychological, Family, and Socio-Environmental Determinants

Abstract

Adolescent anxiety has emerged to be an urgent public health issue and increased incidence rates have emphasized the urgent need to subject often definitive empirical research on the determinants of anxiety. This paper has used a multi-method statistical model—that is built by combining pre-post analysis, correlation analysis and paired t-tests- to investigate the biological, psychological, family, and socio-environmental variables that lead to anxiety in adolescents in secondary schools. There were 129 adolescents (M age = 14.53, SD = 0.75; 69.0% boys), who were measured at baseline and after the period of intervention. Because of the findings, it is possible to note that the strongest correlates of anxiety severity include trait anxiety (TAI; r = .617), emotionality (r = .600) and depression (r =.613). Significant pre-to-post reductions were observed for trait anxiety (t = 3.295, p = .001, d = 0.25), worry (t = 2.381, p = .019, d = 0.19), and emotionality (t = 3.624, p < .001, d = 0.28), while overall anxiety and depression scores did not change significantly. These findings have significant implications on early screening programs in schools, design of targeted interventions, and development of policies related to the mental health of adolescents.