The Prevalence of Anxiety Among Children in Saudi Arabia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The year 2021 was a year that can be perceived as a stressful event given the considerable lifestyle changes that have occurred worldwide due to the pandemic. Several studies have investigated the psychological impact on people during this time period. However, only a few of them have in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-11, Vol.15 (11), p.e48942-e48942
Main Authors: Alasmari, Moudi M, Alshaikh, Hatoon, Alotaibi, Solaf H, Batwa, Yara, Alsheikh, Mona Y, Alshaeri, Heba, Helali, Abdulnasser
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agoraphobia
Children & youth
COVID-19
Cross-sectional studies
Demographics
Divorce
Fear & phobias
Females
Gender
Generalized anxiety disorder
Males
Marital status
Medical research
Mental disorders
Mental health
Pandemics
Parents & parenting
Separation anxiety
Siblings
Software
Variance analysis
Well being
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Summary:Background: The year 2021 was a year that can be perceived as a stressful event given the considerable lifestyle changes that have occurred worldwide due to the pandemic. Several studies have investigated the psychological impact on people during this time period. However, only a few of them have investigated the impact on young children in Saudi Arabia (SA) specifically. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety in children living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included the parents of 388 children aged 6-9 years living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was conducted from June to November 2021. The parents completed an electronic survey that included the Arabic version of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale. The data were analyzed using John’s Macintosh Project (JMP) software version 10.0 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC).Results: A total of 388 responses were collected. The data revealed that 37 (9.5%) participants experienced anxiety. Furthermore, the prevalence of anxiety was higher among females (5.15%) as compared to males (4.38%), but the difference was not statistically significant.Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of recognizing the psychological burden in young populations and emphasize the importance of taking children’s well-being into account.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.48942