TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of anxiety symptoms in school performance in a community sample of children and adolescents
AU - Mazzone, Luigi
AU - Ducci, Francesca
AU - Scoto, Maria Cristina
AU - Passaniti, Eleonora
AU - D'Arrigo, Valentina Genitori
AU - Vitiello, Benedetto
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Background. Anxiety symptoms are relatively common among children and adolescents and can interfere with functioning. The prevalence of anxiety and the relationship between anxiety and school performance were examined among elementary, middle, and high school students. Methods. Samples of elementary (N = 131, age 8-10 years), middle (N = 267, age 11-13 years), and high school (N = 80, age 14-16 years) children were recruited from four public schools in a predominantly middle-class community in Catania, Italy. Children completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). T-scores were computed for the MASC total scores, and considered to be in the anxious range if 65 or above. Current academic grades were obtained from school records. Results. Of the 478 children, 35 (7.3%) had a MASC T-score in the anxious range. The rate of children in the anxious range was 2.3% in elementary, 7.9% in middle, and 15.9% in high school (χ2 = 7.8, df = 2, p < 0.05), and was 14.1% among students with insufficient grades, 9.4% among those with sufficient grades, and 3.9% among those with good or very good grades (χ2 = 11.68, df = 2, p < 0.01). Conclusion. In this community sample of children and adolescents attending elementary through high school, the prevalence of abnormally high self-reported levels of anxiety increased in frequency with age and was negatively associated with school performance.
AB - Background. Anxiety symptoms are relatively common among children and adolescents and can interfere with functioning. The prevalence of anxiety and the relationship between anxiety and school performance were examined among elementary, middle, and high school students. Methods. Samples of elementary (N = 131, age 8-10 years), middle (N = 267, age 11-13 years), and high school (N = 80, age 14-16 years) children were recruited from four public schools in a predominantly middle-class community in Catania, Italy. Children completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). T-scores were computed for the MASC total scores, and considered to be in the anxious range if 65 or above. Current academic grades were obtained from school records. Results. Of the 478 children, 35 (7.3%) had a MASC T-score in the anxious range. The rate of children in the anxious range was 2.3% in elementary, 7.9% in middle, and 15.9% in high school (χ2 = 7.8, df = 2, p < 0.05), and was 14.1% among students with insufficient grades, 9.4% among those with sufficient grades, and 3.9% among those with good or very good grades (χ2 = 11.68, df = 2, p < 0.01). Conclusion. In this community sample of children and adolescents attending elementary through high school, the prevalence of abnormally high self-reported levels of anxiety increased in frequency with age and was negatively associated with school performance.
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U2 - 10.1186/1471-2458-7-347
DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-7-347
M3 - Article
C2 - 18053257
AN - SCOPUS:38849163467
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 7
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
M1 - 347
ER -