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Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Age, Gender and Anxiety Among Nigerian Students

Anike, Raphael Ugwu, Agu, Brayn Chukwuma

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, age, gender and anxiety among Nigerian students. A total of 322 participants (207 females, 115 males; ages 15-35, M=22.33, SD=4.583) were selected from secondary schools and higher institutions using availability and purposive sampling. Data were collected using the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (Zung, 1971) and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998), with age and gender recorded as demographic variables. A correlational design was employed, and data were analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS 27. Findings indicate that adverse childhood experiences show a moderate positive correlation with anxiety (r=.478 at p<.05); gender positively correlated with anxiety (r=.620 at p<.05). This emphasizing the influence of early-life experiences on students' mental health.

Keywords

Anxiety; Adverse Childhood Experiences; Students; Gender; Age; Cognitive Theory of Anxiety; Nigeria; Hierarchical Regression; Correlational Design

References

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