The relationship between anxiety, depression and risk behaviors in adolescents

Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Soleimani ◽  
Saeed Pahlevan Sharif ◽  
Nasim Bahrami ◽  
Ameneh Yaghoobzadeh ◽  
Kelly A. Allen ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim Adolescence is a developmental period often associated with high-risk behaviors. While some risk-taking behavior is considered normative in adolescents, research has indicated an association between risky behaviors and mental ill-health. The current research aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety and depression with the occurrence of high-risk behaviors in adolescents and also determine the predictive factors of these main variables. Methods A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was used to collect data from 399 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 residing in Qazvin, Iran using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and the Iranian Adolescents Risk-taking Scale (IARS) between the period of October and November 2015. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics powered by SPSS (v. 23). Results Mean scores for anxiety, depression and risky behaviors were 37.70 ± 21.11 and 80.76 ± 31.30, respectively. Participants’ frequency of suicidal thoughts (β = 0.126, p < 0.05) positively predicted anxiety and depression, while age (β = −0.126, p < 0.01) and self-confidence (β = −0.307, p < 0.001) negatively predicted anxiety and depression. Moreover, having friends that smoke (β = 0.366, p < 0.001), suicidal thoughts (β = 0.127, p < 0.01), and the strength of suicidal thoughts (β = 0.100, p < 0.05) were positive predictors of occurrence of risky behaviors. Furthermore, religious belief (β = −0.204, p < 0.001) negatively predicted occurrence of risky behaviors in Iranian adolescents. Male respondents were more likely to have higher level of occurrence of risky behaviors than females (β = −0.193, p < 0.001). Conclusion Findings of the present study suggest that anxiety and depression positively and significantly predict the occurrence of risky behaviors in addition to having friends that smoke, suicidal thoughts, and strong suicidal thinking. The implications of these findings have relevance for screening, prevention, and treatment interventions targeting mental health in adolescents.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Zahra Nikmanesh ◽  
◽  
Mehdi Darvish Molla ◽  
Mehrnosh Mehranfard ◽  
◽  
...  

Background: Although high-risk behaviors lead to adverse physical, psychological, and sociological consequences, less attention has been paid to identifying their related factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between defense mechanisms and high-risk behaviors among adolescents in Zahedan. Methods: In this descriptive-correlative study, junior and senior high school students of Zahedan, Iran were studied in the academic year 2015-2016. A sample of 250 (125 males and 125 females) students were chosen by multi-stage cluster sampling and asked to complete the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), and the Risk-Taking Scale (IARS) for Iranian Adolescents. Data analysis was conducted by measuring coefficients of correlation and performing a path analysis. Results: Path analysis showed a significant correlation between defense mechanisms and alexithymia (P<0.01) and a significant correlation was found between immature defense mechanisms and high-risk behaviors (P<0.01). Conclusion: In the relationship between dysfunctional defense mechanisms and high-risk activities, alexithymia played a mediating role. It can be inferred that dysfunctional defense mechanisms play a key role in high-risk activities by influencing alexithymia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhad Shekari ◽  
Peyman Habibi ◽  
Haidar Nadrian ◽  
Asghar Mohammadpoorasl

Abstract Background High-risk behaviors are among the most serious threats for the physical and mental health of adolescents and young adults. Our aims in this study were to investigate the subgroups of students based on risky behaviors and to identify the prevalence rate of these subgroups. Methods This cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted from July to August 2019 in Tabriz, Iran. We performed proportional sampling in all nine universities of the city, according to the number of students in each university. Applying an online survey questionnaire, the data were collected from 3649 students and analyzed using Latent Class Analysis. Results For total sample, standardized prevalence rates of cigarette smoking, hookah use, alcohol consumption, substance abuse and unsafe sex were 18.5 (Confidence Interval (CI) 95%: 17.3–19.8), 9.1 (CI 95%: 8.2–10.1), 9.2 (CI 95%: 8.3–10.2), 8.3 (CI 95%: 7.4–9.3) and 14.5 (CI 95%: 13.3–15.7), respectively. Three latent classes of risky behaviors were determined among students: a) low risk b) smoking and c) high risk. About 18% of boys and 1.5% of girls were in the high risk class. Cigarette smoking (18.5%, CI 95%: 17.3–19.8) and substance abuse (8.3%, CI 95%: 7.4–9.3) were the most and the least common risky behaviors among the students. Conclusion In this we-based survey, a considerable number of students, particularly boys (18%), was at high-risk class, stressing the need for preventive interventions for this group of youth. Our findings are beneficial for planning and development of risky-behavior preventive strategies to prevent high-risk behaviors among college students.


Author(s):  
Asma Ghonchepour ◽  
Mostafa Sohrabi ◽  
Zakiyeh Golestani ◽  
Fereshteh Biabanaki ◽  
Mahlagha Dehghan

Abstract Background The most common high-risk behaviors that have profound and adverse effects on the health of the community take place in the university environment. Nowadays, the necessity of exploring ways to correct and reduce the high-risk behaviors requires identification of its determinant factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the correlation between spiritual health and high-risk behaviors among university students in the southeast of Iran in 2017–2018. Method This survey was a cross-sectional study. The population was all students studying at three central Universities in Kerman. Eight hundred and four students participated in the survey using a quota sampling method. The research instrument was a demographic questionnaire and the 20-item spiritual well-being Palutzian and Ellison scale and the Iranian Adolescent Riskiness Scale (IARS), which includes 39 items for high-risk behaviors. Results The mean total score of high-risk behaviors was 79.16 ± 24.6 which was lower than the median (117). The spiritual health of the majority of subjects (66.7%) was moderate with an average of 90.65 ± 16.64. There was a significant negative correlation between the students’ spiritual health and their high-risk behaviors. Conclusion It is necessary and essential to plan and implement spiritual-based interventions to reduce the incidence of high-risk behaviors.


2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Aminimanesh ◽  
Ali Asghar Hayat ◽  
Mostafa Khanzadeh ◽  
Mehdi Taheri

Background: Awareness of people’s motivations for committing high-risk behaviors helps to explain the underlying causes and provides a framework for their use in preventive and therapeutic interventions. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive model of high-risk behaviors in adolescents based on their motivations. Methods: The present research has a correlational design and uses structural equation modeling. The sample included 450 male students selected through a convenience sampling method to complete the Iranian Adolescents’ Risk-taking and Motives for Risk-taking scale. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: The results showed that thrill-seeking, calculation, audience control, irresponsibility, and hedonistic motivation had significant relationships with high-risk behaviors. Also, except for attention-seeking, other motivations could significantly contribute to the prediction of high-risk behaviors. Also, the motivations had the strongest impact on alcohol consumption and the minimum impact on smoking. Finally, motivations generally explained 44% of the high-risk behaviors variance. Conclusions: Considering the role of motivations in doing high-risk behaviors, more attention should be given to these factors in preventive and therapeutic interventions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-193
Author(s):  
Samaneh Naseri

AbstractThe term cultural capital has gained a widespread popularity as an analogy with economic capital, and capitalism rules and debates since the early 1970s. Essentially, cultural capital is not inherited, yet it is achieved through personal endeavors. Acquisition of cultural capital demands an incessant and hard work in addition to lifelong learning and acculturation. Hence, the present study examines the relationship between forms of cultural capital and high-risk behaviors of Iranian college students. The impact of each form on the incidence of high-risk behaviors is measured. A survey consisting demographical items, and items assessing cultural capital and tendency towards high-risk behaviors are applied. The results suggest a meaningfully negative relationship between sub-types of cultural capital and high-risk behaviors among undergraduate students in Iran. So, the author concluded that with an increase in cultural capital and the sub-types, the incidence of high-risk behaviors decreases consequently.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Galić ◽  
Luka Mustapić ◽  
Ana Šimunić ◽  
Leon Sić ◽  
Sabrina Cipolletta

Background and Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical and unexpected changes in everyday life, and it is plausible that people’s psychophysical health has been affected. This study examined the relationship between COVID-19 related knowledge and mental health in a Croatian sample of participants.MethodsAn online survey was conducted from March 18 until March 23, 2020, and a total of 1244 participant responses were collected (85.5% were women and 58.4% completed secondary education). Measures included eight questions regarding biological features of the virus, symptoms, and prevention, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Optimism-Pessimism Scale. According to the answers given on the questions on COVID-19 related knowledge, participants were divided in two groups: (1) informed and (2) uninformed on each question. They were then compared in the expressed levels of anxiety, depression, pessimism, and optimism. Full vs. partial mediation models with optimism/pessimism as a mediator in the relationship between anxiety/depression and the accuracy of responses for questions about handwashing and ways of transmission were estimated.ResultsParticipants who responded correctly on the question about handwashing had higher levels of anxiety, depression, and pessimism than those participants whose answer was incorrect, while participants who answered correctly on the question about the percentage of patients who develop serious breathing problems had higher levels of depression than those who answered incorrectly. Lower levels of anxiety and pessimism were observed in the participants who answered correctly about ways of transmission. Higher levels of pessimism were found in participants who scored incorrectly on questions about the efficiency of antibiotics, most common symptoms, and the possibility of being infected by asymptomatic carriers. Higher levels of knowledge about handwashing were predicted by higher levels of anxiety and pessimism. Higher levels of knowledge about ways of transmission were predicted by lower levels of anxiety and lower levels of pessimism. The examined relationships between anxiety/depression and knowledge were mediated by pessimism.ConclusionThe findings of this study suggest that knowledge about COVID-19 may be useful to reduce anxiety and depression, but it must be directed to the promotion of health behaviors and to the recognition of fake news.


Author(s):  
Isabela Gonzales Carvalho ◽  
Eduarda dos Santos Bertolli ◽  
Luciana Paiva ◽  
Lidia Aparecida Rossi ◽  
Rosana Aparecida Spadoti Dantas ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the relationship between anxiety and depression symptoms, resilience and self-esteem with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics; correlate resilience and self-esteem with age and duration of the disease; check associations between anxiety and depression with measures of resilience and self-esteem among individuals with cardiovascular diseases. Method: correlational study conducted in a large university hospital in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The population was composed of adult inpatients with cardiovascular diseases. A non-probabilistic consecutive sample was composed of 120 patients. Variables of interest were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Resilience Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results: anxiety and depression symptoms were present in 32.5% and 17.5% of the patients, respectively, and were associated with the female sex (p = 0.002; p = 0.022). Manifestations of depression were associated with the presence of comorbidities (p = 0.020). More resilient patients did not present depression symptoms (p < 0.001) and anxious women were more resilient (p = 0.042). The highest scores regarding self-esteem were present in patients with anxiety and depression. Men presented higher resilience and lower self-esteem compared to women. Conclusion: patients with anxiety and depression were less resilient but presented higher self-esteem.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisan Karimi ◽  
Reza Ghanei Gheshlagh ◽  
Abdorrahim Afkhamzadeh ◽  
Obeidollah Faraji ◽  
Khaled Rahmani

Abstract Background Truck, bus, transit drivers, and men with mobile jobs are at high risk for HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HIV and risky behaviors among truck and bus drivers in Kurdistan province. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 601 bus and truck drivers in Kurdistan province during 2018–2019. Data on high-risk behaviors were collected using a standard questionnaire. ELISA test was used to detect HIV in the study participants. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U tests, and logistic regression modeling in Stata-14 software. Results The mean and standard deviation of the age of study participants was 44.04 ± 11.44 years. HIV rapid test was positive in two subjects; in other words, the prevalence of HIV in the study population was 0.33%. Ninety-two (15.3%) individuals reported a history of drug use, with one (1.1%) having a history of injecting drugs. One hundred and thirty-one (21.8%) of them had a history of high-risk sexual behavior outside of marriage. Conclusion According to the results of the present study, the prevalence of high-risk behaviors in bus and truck drivers is high. It seems necessary to direct the drivers’ attention to self-care while considering disciplinary intervention programs to prevent the use of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol along with high-risk sexual behaviors to maintain the health of drivers and passengers.


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