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Original Article

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Napakkawat Buathong, Ph.D.*, Nattapong Pattanalertpaiboon** , Kanokpit Wattanapaiboon**, Jeerapat

Piriyakoontorn**, Chutikarn Thaweechai**, Pratsara Pinkaew**, Phurinut Sriket**, Warat Setasuban**,

Suppanut Komjakraphan**

*Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, **Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University,

Songkhla 90110, ailand.

Job-Seeking Anxiety Resilience and Family

Inuence on Career Decision-Making among Senior

Undergraduate Students in Southern Thailand

during the COVID -19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Objective: A study of job-seeking anxiety, resilience quotient and family inuence on career decision-making is apparently

lacking; especially in regards to the impact of the nancial crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, and other factors,

such as the political climate currently in ailand. is study aimed to determine job-seeking anxiety, resilience quotient

and family inuence on career decision-making and related factors among senior, undergraduate university students.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in a university in Southern ailand;

from May to October, 2020. Two hundred and seventy-one participants completed questionnaires regarding

personal and parental demographic characteristics, resilience, family inuence scale, job-seeking self-perception

and job-seeking anxiety.

Results: e prevalence of job-seeking anxiety among participants was low (40%), moderate (50%) and high (10%).

In univariate analysis, factors signicantly associated with job-seeking anxiety were: female gender (p=0.03), eects

of the COVID-19 pandemic, economics and the current, political situation ailand (p=0.03), resilience quotient

(p<0.001) and job-seeking self-perception (p<0.001). e predictors of job-seeking anxiety, from multivariate

analysis, were: resilience quotient (β = -1.169, P<0.001) and job-seeking self-perception (β = 2.232, P<0.001).

Conclusion: Our study provided evidences that a signicant proportion of senior, undergraduate students had

experienced job-seeking anxiety, with the protective factor of job-seeking anxiety being individual resilience quotient.

is information could be used as an eective management strategy for providing mental health promotion, and

prevention for senior, undergraduate university students.

Keywords: COVID-19; family inuence; job-seeking anxiety; resilience quotient (Siriraj Med J 2021; 73: 363-372)

Corresponding author: Napakkawat Buathong

E-mail: napakkawatb@gmail.com

Received 9 February 2021 Revised 25 March 2021 Accepted 26 March 2021

ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6753-8567

http://dx.doi.org/10.33192/Smj.2021.48

INTRODUCTION

Anxiety is a normal, individual response when

experiences trigger or insecure situations occur, unless it

is persistent, overwhelming and unmanageable. Anxiety

disorders can cause distress as well as have debilitating

impacts on daily activities and mental health.

According

to a report, issued in 2016 by department of mental health

ministry of Public Health of ailand, it was found that

an estimated 140,000 people; above 18 years old, were

diagnosed with anxiety disorders.

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e last year of study in university appears to be

the most dicult time when students face pressures

from both study and career planing. e discribtion of

a career is the job or profession that someone does for

a long period of their life. erefore, the concerns about

career’s and job-seeking can cause some stress and anxiety

for senior students

, in accordance with establishing

personal goals and self-identity. Besides job-seeking

and self-perception, previous studies have shown that

inuences by family

(i.e., family status, education and

parents’ expectations) and socio-demographic factors

(i.e., gender and academic major) were associated with

job-seeking stress, depression and suicide ideation.

Moreover, in 2019 the youth unemployment rates

increased rapidly from 3.7 to 3.9 percent

, in particular

because of the impact of the nancial crisis caused by

the COVID-19 pandemic. e COVID-19 pandemic

also can be stress factors for public health actions; such

as social distancing, which can increase increase stress

and anxiety, due to the impact on temporality closures

of some business.

One of the important factors in coping with both

stress and hardship is resilience. Resilience quotient

(RQ) is dened as: the individual process of adapting

using emotional stability, will power and coping skills

to recover from trauma, tragedy, threats and stressful

circumstances.

Although, the issue of job-seeking has become

the most important concern and cause for anxiety for

university students, few studies in ailand about job-

seeking anxiety related resilience quotient and family

inuence on career decision-making have been published;

especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. erefore,

the purposes of this research were to examine job-seeking

anxiety and to determine the associations between job-

seeking anxiety, resilience quotient and family inuence

on career decision-making among senior, undergraduate

students, in Prince of Songkla University, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in order to provide mental health

promotion and prevention in the future.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted,

using online questionnaires, at the Prince of Songkla

University, HatYai Campus, ailand; from May to

October, 2020. e study protocol was approved by the

Oce of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)

Prince of Songkla University (REC.63-236-9-2). Action,

informed consent was obtained from participants prior

to enrollment into the study.

e Student Aairs personnel of Prince of Songkla

University, who were instrumental in distributing the

online survey using convenience sampling to 584 senior,

undergraduate students in Hatyai campus (Fig 1) within

13 faculties; classied into 4 groups 1.) Pure Science;

including, the Faculty of Science 2.) Applied Science

and Technology; including, the Faculty of Engineering,

Faculty of Natural Resources, Faculty of Agro-Industry

and Faculty of Environmental Management 3.) Health

Sciences; including, Medical Technology, Faculty of

Traditional ai Medicine and the Faculty of Veterinary

Science 4.) Social Science and Arts; including, Faculty

of Law, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Liberal Arts,

Faculty of Management Sciences, and International

college. e inclusion criteria were senior students who

were willing to participate in our study, aged above 18,

and had enrolled in the Faculty of Veterinery Science,

in the academic year of 2015, and in other Faculties in

the academic year of 2017; and were able to read and

understand ai. We excluded 313 students, who were

unintened for job seeking, suspended, planned for further

study (n=233), had job commitments to scholarship

(n=29) and informed unwilling to answer (n=51). e

total of 271 participants were enrolled into the study.

Fig 1. Flow diagram of participant enrolment.

Buathong et al.

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Original Article

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Measurement

All participants completed the seven parts of the

online questionnaires: personal demographic data,

parental demographic data, the eect of the COVID-19

pandemic, economics and the current political situation

in Southern ailand on job-seeking, ai resilience

questionnaires (ai-RQ), Family Inuence Scale (FIS)

for evaluation of familial inuence to job-seeking, Job-

seeking self-perception questionnaires and Job-seeking

anxiety questionnaires, by themselves. All questionnaires

were sent online to senior, undergraduate students by

the Student Aairs department.

e eect of the COVID-19 pandemic, economics

and current political situation in ailand on job-seeking

was used to evaluate the opinion of current conicts and

situations toward job seeking. Which was developed

by the research and measured by a question scoring of

likert scale; 1 to 5. e scores of 1 or 2 were interpreted

as low, 3 as moderate, and 4 or 5 as a high eect. e

Item Objective Congruence (IOC) Index for content

validity assessment was 1.00.

e 20-item, ai-RQ

., which was developed by

the Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Public

Health, ailand, was used to assess personal resiliency

consisting of 3 domains: emotional stability, will power

and coping skills. Each answer was scored on a scale of

1 to 4. e total scores ranged from 20 to 80. e scores

20-54, 55-69, 70-80 indicated low, normal, and high

resilience quotient, respectively. e reliability of the

ai-RQ, assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.75.

Measurement of family inuence to job-seeking

by Fouad

was conducted by the ai version of the

Family inuence scale (FIS). is consists of 22 questions;

including, 8-items of information support, 5-items on

nancial support, 4-items of family expectations, and

5-items on values and beliefs. Each answer was scored on

a scale of 1 to 5. e family inuence level was classied

as: low (<27), moderate (27-34), and high (>34) by the

total sum. e Cronbach’s alpha of FIS was 0.798.

Job-seeking, self-perception questionnaires that

were modied from factors associated with anxiety of

job application questionnaire composed of 15 items. e

reliability of this questionnaire assessed by Cronbach’s

alpha was 0.886.

e questions included 6-items of

personal perceptions, 4-items of experience and abilities

perceptions, and 5-items on job perceptions. Each answer

was scored on a scale of 1 to 5. e scores 15-35, 36-55,

56-75 indicated low, moderate, and high levels, respectively.

e Job-seeking anxiety questionnaire, an instrument

for measuring severity of job-seeking anxiety, consisted

of 25 items; which represented: mood, thoughts, and

physical symptom responses. Each answer was scored

on a scale of 1 to 5. e scores 25-58, 59-91, 92-125

indicated normal to low, moderate, and high levels of

job seeking anxiety, respectively. e Cronbach’s alpha

of this test was 0.9

Statistical analysis

R software version 3.5.1 was used to perform

analysis.

Descriptive statistics were preformed using

mean and standard deviation (SD). Univariate analyses

for associations of independent variables with job-seeking

anxiety were analyzed using an independent sample

t test, one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA),

Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson’s correlation and Spearman

correlation. Cohen’s conventions criteria

were used to

evaluate the degree of association, a correlation coecient

of 0.10 (represente a weak or small association), 0.30

(represent a moderate correlation and 0.50 or higher

(represent a strong or large correlation). Signicant

factors obtained from univariate analysis were analyzed

using multiple linear regressions, to examine factors

predicting job seeking anxiety. A p-value of less than

0.05 was considered statistically signicant.

RESULTS

Of the 584, senior undergraduate students in Prince

of Songkla University; who were recruited into our

study, two hundred and seventy-one participants met

the inclusion criterias. Table 1 shows resilience quotient,

family inuence scale, job-seeking self-perceptions and job

seeking anxiety status. e majority of participants had

a moderate level of resilience quotient, family inuence

scale, job-seeking self-perceptions and job seeking anxiety

status.

e mean age (SD) of participants was 21.78 (0.76)

years; range 20-25 years. Most of them were female, lived

in other provinces outside of Songkhla, studied in the

applied Science department; mean GPAX (SD) = 2.86

(0.45), and had no underlying diseases. eir eld of

study coupled with job interest was principally matched.

eir families’ status was mostly co-habiting partner,

and income was approximately between 10,000-39,999

Baht per month. e eect of economics and the current

political situation, including COVID-19, on their job-

seeking anxiety was almost, entirely high. Baseline data

regarding socioeconomic status is presented in Table 2.

Table 2 presents a comparison of the demographic

data, and current political situation as well as eects of

COVID-19, in relation to job-seeking-anxiety. (moods,

cognition and physical symptom responses). Female

gender was signicantly associated with higher job-

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TABLE 1. Resilience quotient, family inuence scale, job-seeking self-perceptions and job seeking anxiety status of

participants.

  ResiliencequotientFamilyinuencescaleJob-seeking

Jobseekinganxiety

(RQ)(FIS)self-perceptions

n % n % n % n %

Low 71 26 8 3 45 17 108 40

Moderate 181 67 195 72 174 64 136 50

High 19 7 68 25 52 19 27 10

Mean (S.D.) 58.7 73.54 46.79 65.02

(7.84) (11.74) (10.64) (18.63)

Min - Max 31-80 44-110 19 - 71 30-115

seeking anxiety and physical symptom responses. Past

history of mental illness was only associated with greater

mood responses. Paternal career and family income were

signicantly associated with cognition eects. Economics

and current political situations (as well as those relating

to COVID-19) were signicantly associated with higher

job-seeking anxiety, moods and cognition. By contrast,

age, faculty, hometown, GPAX, eld of study and job

interest match, family status, parental education and

maternal career were not associated with job seeking

anxiety (P > 0.05).

Table 3 demonstrates correlation between resilience

quotient, family inuence scale, job-seeking self-perception

and job-seeking anxiety. Resilience quotient were signicantly

associated with job-seeking anxiety with high degree

of negative correlation. (r>0.5). Although, signicantly

factors positively correlated with job-seeking anxiety with

low degree of association were the family’s information

support, values and beliefs (r<0.30). Family expectations

was only associated with cognition with low degree of

association (r<0.30). Furthermore, the family’s nancial

support and summary of family inuence scale were not

associated with job-seeking anxiety. Personal, experience

and abilities and job perceptions, which represented

job-seeking self-perception, were signicantly, positively

correlated with job-seeking anxiety and its consequences.

Table 4 shows predictors for job-seeking anxiety.

Gender, economics and the current political situation

(Including eects from COVID-19), resilience quotient

and job-seeking self-perception were entered into multiple

linear regression to analyze with job-seeking anxiety.

e nal model presents the associations of resilience

quotient and job-seeking self-perception on job-seeking

anxiety. ese factors explained 41.7% of the variance of the

job-seeking anxiety score. Job-seeking self-perception was

the strongest predictor for job-seeking anxiety (β=2.232,

P<0.001).

DISCUSSION

is study aimed to explore job-seeking anxiety

in senior, undergraduate student, and identify each

sociodemographic factor related to job-seeking anxiety.

Anxiety levels can be classied using class interval scales

as low, moderate and high. e prevalence of job-seeking

anxiety was similar to the study by Ua-ariyapanichkul

et al

, which also studied senior university students. We

found that most participants had moderate to high level

of job-seeking anxiety (60%). is nding showed that

job-seeking anxiety was a problem aer graduation, for

university students.

In regards to sociodemographic factors, females were

considered a signicant variable to job-seeking anxiety.

is nding was similar to previous study performed by

Fengsu Hou et al

that females were experiencing more

severe stress and anxiety symptoms than male gender

especially in Covid-19 situation. Moreover, resulting

from gender dierences in regards to a comparison of

lay-o rates in ailand (Q2 of 2019 and 2020) were

2.3% in women and 1.5% in men

that might result in

an anxious with job seeking.

Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the

nancial situation has become a crisis. In consequence,

unemployment rates sharply increased in double-time

in Q2 of 2019 and 2020

, causing anxiety in senior,

university students. In this study, the perspectives on

COVID eects were mostly in the high level (82.29%).

Buathong et al.

Original Article

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TABLE 2. Comparison of the demographics data and current conict situation (COVID-19) in relation to job-seeking-anxiety and its eects (moods, cognition and physical

symptoms responses).

Job-seeking anxiety

Total Overall Moods Cognition Physical symptoms

(N=271) % Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P*

(df) (df) (df)

Gender t (269) 0.03 t (269) 0.18 t (269) 0.11 t (269) 0.013

Male 75 27.68 61.0 (19.10) 19.0 (6.28) 17.8 (6.26) 24.2 (8.99)

Female 196 72.32 66.5 (18.30) 20.2 (5.81) 19.2 (6.12) 27.2 (8.80)

Age t (269) 0.63 t (269) 0.72 t (269) 0.69 t (269) 0.63

<22 years old 101 37.27 65.7 (19.20) 20.0 (5.88) 19.0 (6.53) 26.7 (8.75)

>22 years old 170 62.73 64.6 (18.30) 19.7 (6.01) 18.7 (5.98) 26.2 (9.07)

Group of Faculty F (4,266) 0.42 F (4,266) 0.6 F (4,266) 0.27 F (4,266) 0.4

Pure Science 10 3.69 65.7 (19.40) 20.2 (6.71) 19.4 (7.43) 26.1 (3.17)

Applied Science 146 53.87 63.3 (18.50) 19.5 (5.84) 18.2 (5.94) 25.7 (0.75)

Health Science 12 4.43 66.6 (23.40) 21.4 (7.24) 20.4 (7.48) 24.8 (3.42)

Social Science 103 38.01 67.2 (18.10) 20.2 (5.91) 19.5 (6.20) 27.5 (0.82)

and Arts

Hometown t (269) 0.77 t (269) 0.37 t (269) 0.64 t (269) 0.76

Songkhla 104 38.38 64.6 (16.90) 19.4 (5.91) 18.6 (5.99) 26.6 (7.98)

Other 167 61.62 65.3 (19.70) 20.1 (5.98) 19.0 (6.31) 26.2 (9.51)

GPAX F (4,266) 0.70 F (4,266) 0.71 F (4,266) 0.68 F (4,266) 0.65

<2.5 63 23.25 64.8 (18.30) 19.6 (5.58) 19.0 (6.26) 26.3 (8.75)

2.5-2.99 104 38.38 65.3 (17.60) 19.6 (5.60) 19.0 (5.73) 26.7 (8.71)

3-3.49 78 28.78 63.6 (18.70) 20.0 (6.23) 18.2 (6.15) 25.4 (8.66)

>3.5 26 9.59 68.7 (23.20) 21.0 (7.41) 19.9 (7.81) 27.8 (11.14)

Underlying disease t (269) 0.35 0.71 0.26 0.16

No underlying disease 238 87.82 64.6 (18.90) 19.9 (6.03) 18.7 (6.29) 26.1 (9.01)

Underlying disease 33 12.18 67.8 (16.60) 19.5 (5.39) 20.0 (5.21) 28.4 (8.27)

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TABLE 2. Comparison of the demographics data and current conict situation (COVID-19) in relation to job-seeking-anxiety and its eects (moods, cognition and physical

symptoms responses). (Continue)

Job-seeking anxiety

Total Overall Moods Cognition Physical symptoms

(N=271) % Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P*

(df) (df) (df)

Field of study and M 0.97 0.22 0.71 0.52

Job interest match

Yes 169 62.36 65.0 (18.70) 20.4 (6.04) 18.6 (6.01) 25.9 (9.07)

No 102 37.64 65.1 (18.70) 19.5 (5.89) 18.9 (6.29) 26.6 (8.89)

Family status t (269) 0.56 0.7 0.77 0.46

Cohabiting partner 192 70.85 64.6 (18.30) 19.8 (5.96) 18.8 (6.16) 26.1 (8.83)

Other 79 29.15 66.0 (19.50) 20.1 (5.97) 19.0 (6.26) 27.0 (9.23)

Father's education F (6,264) 0.53 1.00 0.31 0.32

Uneducated 5 1.85 71.2 (12.10) 20.4 (5.03) 21.6 (3.71) 29.2 (5.67)

Primary school 61 22.51 61.3 (17.00) 19.5 (5.88) 17.3 (5.35) 24.5 (8.4)

Secondary school 71 26.20 66.0 (19.20) 19.6 (5.63) 19.3 (6.03) 27.1 (9.09)

Vocational education 54 19.93 64.3 (19.60) 20.0 (6.08) 18.9 (6.57) 25.44(9.02)

Bachelor's degree 73 26.94 67.0 (19.20) 20.1 (6.40) 19.5 (6.82) 27.4 (9.19)

Master's degree and 7 2.58 67.3 (14.10) 20.4 (6.27) 17.6 (4.58) 29.3 (9.67)

higher education

Father's career F (5,265) 0.20 0.59 0.048 0.39

Employee/laborer 52 19.19 60.7 (15.30) 19.2 (5.52) 17.2 (5.11) 24.3 (7.33)

Government and state 64 23.62 66.7 (18.50) 20.2(6.01) 19.5 (6.75) 27.0 (8.90)

enterprise

Agriculturist 57 21.03 66.7 (20.00) 20.4 (6.30) 19.3 (6.31) 27.1 (9.43)

Business owner 64 23.62 63.3 (19.30) 19.1 (5.84) 18.0 (5.96) 26.1 (9.43)

Other/ unemployment 34 12.55 69.0 (19.20) 20.6 (6.20) 20.9 (6.22) 27.6 (9.42)

Buathong et al.

Original Article

SMJ

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TABLE 2. Comparison of the demographics data and current conict situation (COVID-19) in relation to job-seeking-anxiety and its eects (moods, cognition and physical

symptoms responses). (Continue)

Job-seeking anxiety

Total Overall Moods Cognition Physical symptoms

(N=271) % Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P* Mean (SD) Statistic P*

(df) (df) (df)

Mother's education F (6,264) 0.09 0.19 0.06 0.26

Uneducated 4 1.48 65.5 (17.20) 20.8 (5.85) 17.8 (6.4) 27.0 (7.53)

Primary school 65 23.99 59.7 (18.40) 18.5 (5.93) 17.1 (5.61) 24.1 (9.06)

Secondary school 70 25.83 66.7 (20.40) 20.3 (6.00) 19.4 (6.27) 27.1 (9.99)

Vocational education 44 16.24 67.7 (15.30) 20.6 (5.52) 19.4 (5.78) 27.8 (6.42)

Bachelor's degree 79 29.15 65.2 (18.00) 19.7 (6.13) 19.1 (6.32) 26.5 (8.74)

Master's degree or higher 9 3.32 75.3 (21.40) 23.3 (5.34) 22.9 (7.93) 29.1 (11.25)

Mother's career F (5,265) 0.15 0.26 0.08 0.41

Employee/laborer 57 21.03 60.8 (16.40) 18.6 (18.61) 17.5 (5.83) 24.7 (8.12)

Government and state 50 18.45 70.1 (17.10) 21.1 (21.14) 20.8 (6.39) 28.1 (8.47)

enterprise

Agriculturist 42 15.50 65.5 (19.10) 20.2 (20.19) 18.8 (5.76) 26.5 (9.71)

Business owner 68 25.09 64.9 (20.80) 20.0 (20.03) 18.5 (6.57) 26.4 (9.76)

Other/ unemployment 54 19.93 64.6 (18.40) 19.4 (19.43) 18.8 (5.90) 26.4 (8.47)

Family income (baht) F (4,266) 0.15 0.2 0.03 0.53

<10,000 41 15.13 68.0 (21.30) 20.8 (6.77) 19.7 (6.64) 27.4 (9.83)

10,000-39,999 159 58.67 63.3 (18.50) 19.5 (5.76) 18.1 (5.96) 25.7 (8.95)

40,000-69,999 39 14.39 70.1 (18.60) 21.2 (5.85) 21.2 (6.49) 27.7 (9.15)

70,000 32 11.81 63.4 (14.60) 18.7 (5.76) 18.2 (5.64) 26.5 (7.40)

Economic and current F (3,267) 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.15

situation (COVID-19)

Low (1-2) 10 3.69 51.8 (17.10) 14.8 (5.47) 15.5 (5.17) 21.5 (7.60)

Moderate (3) 38 14.02 61.6 (15.10) 19.2 (4.65) 17.0 (4.60) 25.5 (8.61)

High (4-5) 223 82.29 66.2 (19.00) 20.2 (6.08) 19.3 (6.36) 26.7 (9.01)

df = Degree of freedom. * P was based on an independent sample t test (t), one-way ANOVA (F), or Mann-Whitney U test (M) as appropriate.

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TABLE 3. Mean, standard deviation and bivariate correlation of study variables.

Resilience quotient (RQ) Family inuence scale (FIS) Job-seeking self-perceptions Job-seeking anxiety

Mean RQ total Information Financial Family Values FIS total Personal Experience Job Job-seeking Moods Cognition Physical Job-

(SD) score support support expectation and Score perceptions and abilities perception perceptions symptoms seeking

Beliefs perceptions total score anxiety

total

score

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)

(1) 58.70

(7.84) -

(2) 28.48 r = 0.265

(5.34) P < 0.001 -

(3) 17.67 r = 0.152 r = 0.504

(2.77) P = 0.12 P < 0.001 -

(4) 13.89 r = -0.059 r = 0.250 r = 0.384

(3.20) P = 0.332 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(5) 13.50 r = -0.129 r = 0.198 r = 0.191 r = 0.473

(5.31) P = 0.033 P = 0.001 P =0.002 P < 0.001 -

(6) 73.54 r = 0.082 r = 0.731 r = 0.656 r = 0.691 r = 0.717

(11.74) P = 0.181 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(7) 16.27 r = -0.261 r = -0.157 r = -0.086 r = 0.067 r = 0.046 r = -0.053

(4.26) P < 0.001 P = 0.010 P = 0.158 P = 0.272 P = 0.449 P = 0.388 -

(8) 13.34 r = -0.271 r = -0.143 r = -.0120 r = 0.128 r = 0.025 r = -0.047 r = 0.629

(3.52) P < 0.001 P = 0.018 P = 0.048 P = 0.036 P = 0.681 P = 0.438 P < 0.001 -

(9) 14.00 r = -0.321 r = -0.231 r = -0.113 r = 0.140 r = 0.205 r = -0.001 r = 0.505 r = 0.572

(4.26) P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P = 0.064 P = 0.021 P = 0.001 P = 0.991 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(10) 46.79 ρ = -0.318 ρ = -0.200 ρ = -0.120 ρ = 0.131 ρ = 0.108 ρ = 0.035 ρ = 0.860 ρ = 0.851 ρ = 0.808

(10.64) P < 0.001 P = 0.001 P = 0.048 P = 0.032 P = 0.077 P = 0.569 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(11) 19.84 r = -0.511 r = -0.197 r = -0.084 r = 0.061 r = 0.153 r = -0.024 r = 0.398 r = 0.475 r = 0.539 ρ = 0.545

(5.95) P < 0.001 P = 0.001 P = 0.167 P = 0.318 P = 0.012 P = 0.699 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(12) 18.82 r = -0.556 r = -0.181 r = -0.048 r = 0.146 r = 0.173 r = 0.024 r = 0.331 r = 0.295 r = 0.468 ρ = 0.421 r = 0.704

(6.18) P < 0.001 P = 0.003 P = 0.436 P = 0.016 P = 0.004 P = 0.688 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(13) 26.36 r = -0.467 r = -0.177 r = -0.116 r = 0.051 r = 0.125 r = -0.037 r = 0.273 r = 0.225 r = 0.292 ρ = 0.305 r = 0.564 r = 0.740

(8.94) P < 0.001 P = 0.003 P = 0.057 P = 0.404 P = 0.039 P = 0.542 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

(14) 65.02 r = -0.576 r = -0.208 r = -0.098 r = 0.092 r = 0.166 r = -0.017 r = 0.368 r = 0.358 r = 0.467 ρ = 0.460 r = 0.824 r = 0.912 r = 0.905

(18.63) P < 0.001 P = 0.001 P = 0.107 P = 0.130 P = 0.006 P = 0.777 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 P < 0.001 -

Note: solid numbers, in bold, are statistically signicant (P<0.05

Buathong et al.

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Original Article

SMJ

Likewise, the COVID-19 pandemic represented as a

positive variable on job-seeking anxiety.

Next, overall grade point average representing the

average value of the accumulated nal grades earned in

courses over time at university. is factor showed to

be non relevant in job-seeking anxiety, which was also

indicated in a previous study; explaining that not all the

subjects were concordant to career options. Furthermore,

academic major’s and matching between elds of study

and job interest was considered insignicant, due to

more career options being available nowadays. is

can makes it unnecessary to apply for a job related to a

particular eld of study.

Participations who had history of mental illness

was found to be marginal signicant to job seeking

anxiety. e relatively, small amount of participants in

this study might lead to the diculty in identifying these

predictors. Otherwise, the results were possibly associated

to job-seeking anxiety. Similarly to a previous study,

psychological abnormalities appeared to be a clearly

positive factor on job-seeking anxiety, and depression

in university students.

When considering family inuence: we found that

family’s information support, values and beliefs were

associated to an increase in job-seeking anxiety. Surprisingly,

parental expectations did not have an inuence on child

anxiety, likewise to a previous study

3,17

, in believing

expectations decreased by child’s age. Moreover, the

ages of last years undergraduate students were mature

enough and reasonable for self-judgment. In the same

way, no dierences were found on indices of family

status in these ages.

A signicant eect of family income on job-seeking

anxiety was found. Meanwhile, the cognition part of

job-seeking anxiety seemed to be related with senior

university students whose fathers were unemploymed

was especially found. Eventually, University students

who suered from nancial stress were also pressured

to apply for a job.

e results of this study showed a certainity in the

negative correlation between anxiety and each part of

Resilience Quotient. Previous studies revealed that the

score of Resilience Quotient was strongly, inversely

related to scores of anxiety

using emotional stability,

will power and coping skills.

Self-perceptions in the meaning of understanding

their personal, job, and experiences and abilities in job-

seeking positively correlated with anxiety states. In other

words, anxious participants were more conservative in

their estimations of their action capabilities, which was

concordant in a previous study.

Meanwhile, gender, Job-seeking self-perceptions,

Resilience quotient (RQ), Economics and current situations

(COVID-19) were associated with job-seeking anxiety.

However, the only eect of the Job-seeking self-perceptions

and Resilience quotient (RQ) could predict job-seeking

anxiety. ese ndings were similar to the study of

Sood S, et al.

that resilience and psychological well-

being associated with perceived distress of university

Students During COVID-19. Self-esteem and anxiety

of job applications by Tiensirirerk P

, that showed the

similarity between self-estreem and resilience quotient

as protective factors for anxiety.

ere were some limitations of this study. First,

response rates using online-survey were slightly low as

they were indicated in the research by Fincham J

22,23

, in that

response rates for an online survey were approximately

25-30%. e response rates varied depending on types

and time of surveys. Besides, this data was collected

during the semester and during the COVID-19 situation.

Another diculty was being unable to encourage and

identify non-response groups for reanswering.

TABLE 4. Predictors of job-seeking anxiety.

Predictors*

  Job-seekinganxiety

r

 β Standarderror p-value 95%CI

Resilience quotient (RQ) 0.332 -1.169 0.12 <0.001 -1.39, -0.94

Job-seeking self-perceptions 0.417 2.232 0.35 <0.001 1.55, 2.92

Constant 103.008 9.28 <0.001 84.74, 127.25

* is model was adjusted for gender, economics and current the political situation (Including COVID-19).

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372

In addition, small sample sizes were also limited by

the large amount of the excluded group, who planned

for further study. We suggest examining their anxiety

level and impact of job-seeking anxiety on this decision-

making. All variables were collected using self-report

questionnaires, without clinical interviews, and use of a

cross-sectional study, which might not be able to detect

changes of anxiety over time. erefore, a longitudinal

study is also suggested to clarify this.

In conclusion, we recommend that the Student Aairs

Department create an eective management strategy, for

providing mental health promotion and prevention for

university students. As roles of universities on resilience

and mental health promotion were remarkably mentioned

in previous studies, elimination of any discrimination

towards gender, religion, race and other identities should

be done. Not only settings in the university, but also the

quality of teaching and mentoring should be emphasized, so

as to promote a mentally healthy environment aerwards.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the

Student Aairs personnel of Prince of Songkla University,

who were instrumental in distributing the online survey

to senior, undergraduate students. We are also grateful

to all participants for contributing their valuable time

and honest information.

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