Al-Yateem Nabeel, Bani Issa Wegdan, Rossiter Rachel C, Al-Shujairi Arwa, Radwan Hadia, Awad Manal, Fakhry Randa, Mahmoud Ibrahim
University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.
School of Nursing, Midwifery & Indigenous Health, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, New South Wales, Australia.
BMC Pediatr. 2020 May 25;20(1):245. doi: 10.1186/s12887-020-02155-0.
Anxiety disorders are common among children and adolescents. However, there is a paucity of up-to-date data on the prevalence and correlates of anxiety-related disorders among children and adolescents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
We conducted a cross sectional study to determine the prevalence of specific anxiety-related disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety, social anxiety) in the UAE, and identify correlations between these disorders and adolescents' demographic variables. Participants were 968 adolescents aged 13-18 years attending secondary schools across the UAE. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants. We collected demographic information and data about participants' anxiety levels. Anxiety was assessed using the Arabic and English versions of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders scale. Univariate analyses (independent sample t-tests and analysis of variance) were performed to evaluate factors affecting participants' anxiety scores. Chi-square tests were used to compare factors associated with anxiety disorders.
Participants' mean age was 16 ± 1.8 years, and 65.8% were female. The overall prevalence of anxiety disorders was 28%, with this being significantly higher in girls (33.6%) than boys (17.2%) (p < 0.0001). Participants aged < 16 years had higher generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, and social anxiety scores compared with those aged ≥16 years (p ≤ 0.05). Those from households with a maid had significantly higher generalized anxiety, panic disorder, separation anxiety, and significant school avoidance scores than those without a maid (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, participants from middle and low economic backgrounds had higher separation anxiety scores compared with children from high economic backgrounds (p ≤ 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed the main associated factors with anxiety were gender (being female, p < 0.001) and caregiver (other than mother and father together, p < 0.001).
We found a high incidence of anxiety-related disorders among school-aged adolescents in the UAE, with girls being more affected than boys. This suggests that age-appropriate initiatives are urgently needed to reduce the high rate of anxiety-related disorders. It may also be necessary to further investigate the two main associated factors with anxiety identified in this study (being female and non-parental caregivers).
焦虑症在儿童和青少年中很常见。然而，关于阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋）儿童和青少年中焦虑相关障碍的患病率及相关因素，目前缺乏最新数据。
我们进行了一项横断面研究，以确定阿联酋特定焦虑相关障碍（如广泛性焦虑症、惊恐障碍、分离焦虑、社交焦虑）的患病率，并确定这些障碍与青少年人口统计学变量之间的相关性。参与者为968名年龄在13 - 18岁的阿联酋中学生。采用便利抽样法招募参与者。我们收集了人口统计学信息以及参与者焦虑水平的数据。使用儿童焦虑相关障碍筛查量表的阿拉伯语和英语版本评估焦虑情况。进行单因素分析（独立样本t检验和方差分析）以评估影响参与者焦虑得分的因素。使用卡方检验比较与焦虑症相关的因素。
参与者的平均年龄为16 ± 1.8岁，65.8%为女性。焦虑症的总体患病率为28%，女孩（33.6%）的患病率显著高于男孩（17.2%）（p < 0.0001）。年龄 < 16岁的参与者与年龄≥16岁的参与者相比，广泛性焦虑、分离焦虑和社交焦虑得分更高（p ≤ 0.05）。有女佣家庭的参与者在广泛性焦虑、惊恐障碍、分离焦虑以及严重的学校回避得分方面显著高于没有女佣的家庭（p ≤ 0.05）。此外，与高经济背景家庭的儿童相比，中低经济背景家庭的参与者分离焦虑得分更高（p ≤ 0.05）。多因素分析显示，与焦虑相关的主要因素是性别（女性，p < 0.001）和照顾者（非父母共同照顾，p < 0.001）。
我们发现阿联酋学龄青少年中焦虑相关障碍的发病率很高，女孩比男孩受影响更大。这表明迫切需要采取适合年龄的举措来降低焦虑相关障碍的高发病率。可能还需要进一步研究本研究中确定的与焦虑相关的两个主要因素（女性和非父母照顾者）。
