Generalized anxiety among Finnish youth from 2013 to 2021-Trend and the impact of COVID-19.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alarming levels of emotional symptoms among youth were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies assessing these figures against the pre-pandemic developments are rare. We examined the trend of generalized anxiety (GA) in adolescents in the 2010s and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic against this trend.

Methods

Data from the Finnish School Health Promotion study with 750,000 participants aged 13-20 between 2013 and 2021 was analyzed using GAD-7 to measure self-reported GA (cut-off ≥10). Inquiries were made about remote learning arrangements. Effects of time and COVID-19 were analyzed with logistic regression.

Results

Among females, an increasing trend in GA between 2013 and 2019 was found (OR per year 1.05), and the prevalence increased from 15.5 % t

SUBMITTER: Kiviruusu O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10008046 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature