The Relationship between Anxiety Symptoms and Quality Of Life among Arab Palestinian College Students
Abstract
Aim: Recently, surveys have suggested that anxiety contributes significantly to the quality of life. This study aims to assess anxiety among Arab Palestinian College Students, including identifying how anxiety impacts the quality of life.
Method: This research was a cross-sectional survey. A pilot survey was initiated to determine every scale by the suggested back-translated approach cross-culturally. The use of SAS-A scores identified the demographic parameter correlations. The study sample consisted of 50 students (31 females and 19 males) and was effectively analyzed. Additionally, confirmatory element analysis was applied to create a model based on theoretical findings.
Finding: there was no sex variation in the SAS-A total score; however, alarm due to negative assessment and social avoidance were identified. A comparison of the males and females on SPIN scores indicated that males showed significant restraint and fear compared to their counterparts females. Additionally, the social and economic factors influenced the outcomes, as well as anxiety signs, were reported to be more among the male students.
The findings indicated that students without anxiety tended to score higher on quality of life than students experiencing anxiety. Moreover, students without anxiety recorded a positive Individualism compared to those with anxiety. Based on the cross-cultural survey, the findings indicated no significant variation on SIAS scores for Arab Palestinian and British college students. The direct impact between the research variables and the positive connection between anxiety and cognitive elements were determined. Outcomes showed that fear greatly mediated the relationships between subjective anxiety and environmental health.
Conclusion: in summary, anxious Arab Palestinian College Students must be offered effective treatment and consultation services to be able to enhance their respective quality of life via better integration with various recommendable social institutions. In case the condition is not detected early and timely treated, the impairment caused by social phobia could result in psychosocial, poor academic, and professional outcomes.
The Relationship between Anxiety Symptoms and Quality Of Life among Arab Palestinian College Students
Introduction
Anxiety disorder is one of the diagnostic classing encompassed in the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic. The condition has been legitimately acknowledged since the 80s; however, the issue was never adequately discussed until the DSM-III-R (APA, 1987). Additionally, the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) encompassed anxiety disorder in its clusters (Al-Fayez, Ohaeri & Gado, 2012). The acknowledgment of Anxiety disorder has advanced with the increase in various evidence of epidemiology and other associated studies.
The pervasiveness of various forms of mental problems is relatively significant, with recorded of up to over 32.1% in the overall population (Al-Krenawi, 2005). It is reported that Anxiety and mood disorders cover the greatest percentage of mental issues globally. The current survey on the prevalence of anxiety signs among Arab Palestine college students and elements connected with such symptoms of anxiety, it reported a prevalence of 21.1% for anxiety disorders (Al-Krenawi, 2006). Regarding the number of students who seek treatment for anxiety, most of them initially report to their primary care physicians.
Anxiety disorders and signs significantly impair the normal functioning of a human’s body and health; the quality of life among anxious patients has been linked with various adverse results among Arab Palestine college students, such as reduced work productivity, poor social functioning, poor academic performances and even increased mortality rate. Additionally, currently, it has been proven that most individuals with anxiety tend to experience greater declension in quality of life compared to patients with no any form of anxiety. However, little research has been conducted that focuses on the effects of anxiety and depressions among Arab Palestine college students, even though anxiety disorders tend to be a prevalent condition with relatively more adverse impacts compared to depressive disorders. Therefore, there is a discussion as to whether the effects of anxiety on active primary care patients are a result of comorbidity with depression.
Olfson et al. (2001) suggested that the independent impacts of anxiety on active primary care patients were relatively less harmful; and that both anxiety and depression were linked with greater impairment in several domains. Nonetheless, when the presence of significant anxiety was regulated, panic disorder seemed to stay significantly linked with the impairing in social functioning and even academic performances among the Arab Palestine college students. The same outcome was identified as depression when controlling for the case of anxiety (Alansari, 2005). The research conducted by Olfson and his colleagues showed that the measures for performances were due to psychiatric studies, thus resulting in difficulty in comparison to the effect of anxiety and depression relative to any other health problem.
Currently, the impacts of anxiety on quality of life seemed to be an area of focus among many researchers in a significant sample of primary care patients engaging a regularly applied measure of the quality of life that enables for an adequate comparison among patients who are experiencing other health issues. Moreover, the current study emphasizes on anxiety symptoms that applying DSM-IV diagnoses since most patients in the primary care settings may actually vary in regards to their respective sigh displays from those in the psychiatric environment.
The aim of this study
(1) To assess the effects of anxiety symptoms on the emotional and physical functioning of Arab Palestine college students
(2) To determine the impacts of depressive signs on functioning independently of anxiety signs. It is assumed that impairment will be relatively more adverse with enhanced severity of anxiety symptoms
Methodology
Subjects and Procedures
Respondents were 50 Arab Palestine college students with over 12 who were actually experiencing anxiety. The participants were recruited from three University-affiliated primary care offices. A survey assistant consulted all the participants, and each requested to fill a brief questionnaire. The participant’s involvement was entirely voluntary, and all respondents gave written informed consent at the time of enrollment.
Measures
Demographics
Participants were requested to show their gender, race, age in years, gender, and years of education.
Health information
The participants showed if they had either been diagnosed or not with various health conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, or cancer and anxiety.
Anxiety
Anxiety was evaluated by the use of BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory), a self-report measure including various items that assess signs of anxiety such as racing heart and nervousness. The BIA was found to be effective since it had been validated in several samples of medical patients, including those with COPD and student medical outpatients. The respondents were asked to rate every sign on a 5-point scale ranging from 0(“never”) to 5(“severely”); the feedbacks were analyzed to build a single measurable score. The most exceptional scores represented a higher level of anxiety, with scores from 0 to 2 showing the minimal level of anxiety symptoms,3 showing mild anxiety signs, and 5 indicating a more severe anxiety symptom.
Functional disability
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) was applied to help in the evaluation of the various form of functioning. The SF-36 entailed eight subscales, which include the following: physical functioning, role restriction as a result of physical and emotional health issues, social functioning, emotional well-being, vitality, pain, and viral health assessments.
Analysis
Several regression analyses were initiated to identify the effect of anxiety symptoms on quality of life individually and as a group of students. The unadjusted models were initially shown, and demographic data were filed in stage one and, then the health and disease-associated data were entered in the second stage. In the first model, anxiety was filled in phase three. However, in model two tended to test the independent impacts of anxiety by filling them at the same time.
Again, (ANOVAs) analysis of variance was conducted to assess the impacts of symptoms severity on an individual student’s quality of life. Additionally, t-tests were carried to compare the quality of life in Arab Palestine college students who recorded moderate to severe anxiety symptoms with normative data from those with various underlying conditions such as diabetes and congestive heart failure.
Discussion
This research tends to provide details on the effects of anxiety symptoms among Arab Palestine college students in the primary care setting. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms in this sample was recorded to be very high. Moreover, the effect of anxiety symptoms among the students was reported to be relatively pervasive across every domain of functioning, with anxiety symptoms related to improper functioning in all domains of quality of life.
Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to identify the impacts of anxiety among the Arab Palestine college students on various domains of functioning (Mu’taz & Hamdan-Mansour, 2016). Unadjusted analyses indicated that anxiety symptoms were linked with improper operation in every domain. Upon the control for demographic information and medical problems, anxiety signs seemed to stay significantly linked with the student’s physical and emotional functioning, role restrictions as a result of physical health issues, role restrictions as a result of psychological health issues (Unsal et al. .et 2010). Vitality, social functioning, and overall health overview. Such findings indicated that anxiety symptoms are linked with reduced functioning above, which is attributed to other health issues.
Some assume that the connection between anxiety and functioning is a result of anxiety’s significant rates of comorbidity. The anxiety has a significant connection with quality of life, which is independent of other associated health problems. Additionally, when anxiety and depression are analyzed simultaneously, they tend to indicate a differential connection with various domains of functioning (Giacaman et al., .2007). Depression signs indicted significant linkage with role limitations as a result of emotional and physical issues, mental health, and social functioning compared to anxiety symptoms. Anxiety symptoms showed a greater connection with bodily pain. It is concluded that there are various pathways in which anxiety and depression sign impact quality of life. Arab Palestine college students with mild level anxiety symptoms indicted relatively worse functioning compared to those who recorded no symptoms. On the other hand, Arab Palestine college students with moderate to severe signs had adverse functioning compared to those who recorded a mild level of anxiety. The consistency indicated that anxiety symptoms were linked with improper social and physical functioning. Students who had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms recorded tended to recorded adverse levels of functioning in every domain (Grills-Taquechel, Littleton, & Axsom, 2011). Patients with severe anxiety seemed to experience detrimental bodily harm and mental health problem. The findings of the current study show that anxiety symptoms, those at the mild level, are linked with a decrease in functioning upon statistical controlling for the variations in demographic and health-associated problems.
Additionally, the students with anxiety symptoms recorded significant impairment in functioning compared to those with other underlying medical conditions like diabetes or even congestive heart failure. Based on the outcomes (Barberis, Quattropani & Cuzzocrea, 2019). More appropriate ways of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating anxiety disorder among the Arab Palestine college students in the primary care setting are critical. A collaborative care approach of treatment in which mental health treatment is allied with basic primary care can lead to an affecting outcome.
Figure 1: Social support and emotional intelligence among student
Source: (Strine, 2005).
Arab Palestinian College Students with anxiety tend to score relatively less on the WHO (World Health Organization)’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) scale compared to other students with no anxiety (Strine, 2005). The findings further indicated that anxiety disorder tends to harm life satisfaction. It adversely impacts the quality of life of an individual student, thus making the student to be physically and psychologically unstable, as well as their quality of life.
Patients with anxiety disorder considerably recorded their quality of life to be relatively poor (Safren et al. 1997). Most of the Arab Palestine college students with social phobia tended to experience behavioral issues such as panic and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Additionally, surveys have indicated that the degree of risk of other psychiatric issues is optimized in people with an anxiety disorder. Again, people experiencing anxiety typically tend to have a medical history of depression. Therefore such individuals are likely to show signs and the idea of committing suicide, exclusively fiscally dependent and even poor academic performances (Peleg & Zoabi, 2014). Nonetheless, the findings were also reported in patients with improper social functioning that is associated with an anxiety disorder. That individual who is experiencing anxiety disorder were much dissatisfied with their quality of life and achievement.
The effect of anxiety is significant. Various researches have indicated that lifetime element of social phobia is linked with improper academic performance, poor social interaction, among other factors while in college. It further negatively impacts on an individual’s work productivity and regular routine; thus inconsistency in the work routine and decrease the performance at work or even in the institution of learning. Moreover, anxiety may lead to lasting illness, which may ultimately be chronic.
Figure 1: The effects of the therapy for anxiety among students
Source: Simon et al. (2002)
Simon et al. (2002) studied the relative impacts of anxiety disorder and panic problems on the quality of life of an individual. The study suggested that people with anxiety disorder seemed to be impaired in regards to the quality of life. Nonetheless, the early indication of anxiety disorder stresses the necessity of early diagnosis and treatment to minimize the effect of anxiety disorder on the quality of life among patients (Brenes, 2007). The connection between the quality of life and disability within the sample of the study seeking intervention was carefully examined. They remarked that the various encounters of disability mediate the connections between a patient’s experience of signs and life satisfaction.
These research findings showed that Arab Palestine college students were experiencing an anxiety disorder. The outcome of social phobia builds various kinds of impairments in an individual, thus adversely impacting areas such as social functioning and academic achievement. It can further negatively impact on the students’ work performances, their capability to freely interact with others within their various institutions of learning (Draine & Solomon, 2000). Anxiety can also initiate a frequent barrier to getting engaged in social functioning; therefore, anxiety among students needs to be a major area of emphasis for most of the researchers. It is critical to identify early onset of the condition since, in most instances, the disorder may result in chronic disease. Anxiety disorders can disrupt a person’s social and academic functioning. Epidemiologically, it has been indicated that the early withdrawal of socially phobic students from school is the leading cause of psychiatric disorders.
Moreover, sex variation in anxiety symptoms has been determined by various studies. Being the focus of attendance was viewed as the greatest fear of female college students and always worried about others think of them and compared to the male students. Again, it was found that some social situations such as addressing those in authority, a female student had a significant rate of fear than their male counterparts. The various sex-based survey of anxiety seemed to indicate consist of findings. Nonetheless, both male and female Arab Palestine college students are equally vulnerable to anxiety disorder in a particular social structure. Moreover, various social and cultural phenomena exist due to different religions, ethnicities, histories, among other phenomena.
Conclusion
Anxiety is a common psychiatric disorder, appertaining to a fear of being embarrassed or even humiliated by other people. Emotional and mental reactions are facilitated by individual thoughts and feelings of being perceived in some kind of way or scrutinized, maybe because of their color, religion, or even socioeconomic status (APA, 1987). The people with anxiety have their interactions disrupted as a result of their incapability to adapt to various social situations such as institutions of learning effectively. This specific study has highlighted several factors that are likely to contribute to the development of anxiety disorder among Arab Palestine college students. Genetic predisposition and temperamental traits are regarding as some of the internal factors in the development of anxiety among different patients. Dysfunctional; patterns may be facilitated by poor parenting or even trauma because most of the socialization from family is regarded to be an external factor that may trigger anxiety disorder among individuals. Comprehending anxiety disorder requires to be assessed before intervention can initiate.
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