FACTORS PREDICTING ANXIETY IN THAI DISADVANTAGED ADOLESCENTS IN A PROVINCE IN THE NORTH REGION

Abstract

                Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine factors predicting anxiety in disadvantaged Thai adolescents in a province in the Northern region.

                Methods: The subjects were 337 Matthayomsuksa 1 - 6 students from a school for underprivileged adolescents located in the Northern region of Thailand. A multi-stage random sampling method was used to recruit the subjects. Instruments used for data collection included 1) the Demographic Data Questionnaire, 2) The Thai Mental Health Questionnaire (the part of anxiety items), 3) The Resilience Inventory, 4) The Negative Event Scale, and 5) The Sense of Belonging Instrument. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients of the 2^nd - 5^th instruments were .73, .86, .95, and .85, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression.

                Results: The results revealed that negative life events were statistically and positively related to anxiety in disadvantaged adolescents (r = .484, p = .000). Sense of belonging and resilience were statistically and negatively associated with anxiety in disadvantaged adolescents (r = -.324, p = .000; r = -.166, p = .002 respectively). Negative life events, sense of belonging, and resilience could jointly explain 28.1% of the variance of anxiety in disadvantaged adolescents. Negative life events was the strongest predictor (β = .410, p = .000); followed by sense of belonging (β = -.182, p = .000) and resilience (β = -.130, p = .006) respectively.

                Conclusion: The results of this study may be used as information to develop programs to prevent or decrease anxiety of disadvantaged adolescents.