Gender differences in adolescent anxiety symptoms: Interactions between peer experiences and individual characteristics

• Author / Creator

  Hosan, Naheed

• Anxiety is the most common mental health concern among children and adolescents globally. Anxiety symptoms such as fears and worries increase markedly in early adolescence, particularly for girls. However, not all early adolescents experience this increase in anxiety symptoms. Guided by the developmental psychopathology framework, this study examined risk and protective factors at the peer and individual levels that may influence anxiety symptoms in early adolescence. The first goal was to describe short-term person-level fluctuations in anxiety symptoms over eight weeks during the Spring term of Grade 7. The second goal was to examine bi-weekly co-variation between adolescents’ anxiety symptoms and their peer experiences (peer victimization, friendship closeness). The third goal was to investigate the main and moderating effects of individual characteristics (self-blaming attributions, social competence) on anxiety symptoms and on the co-variation between peer experiences and anxiety symptoms. The fourth goal was to examine gender differences in these associations. These research goals were addressed using a series of two-level hierarchical linear models. Participants were 180 ethnically diverse adolescents (60.6% girls; mean age = 12.7 years, SD = .44 years) in 2 large junior high schools. Results indicate although both girls and boys experienced significant fluctuations in their anxiety symptoms across the eight weeks, girls experienced greater fluctuations. Further, on weeks when adolescents experienced more frequent peer victimization, they also concurrently experienced more frequent anxiety symptoms. Adolescents who made more self-blaming attributions also experienced more frequent anxiety symptoms, whereas more socially competent adolescents experienced fewer anxiety symptoms. Closeness in adolescents’ friendships did not co-vary with their anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, neither self-blaming attributions nor social competence moderated the associations between adolescents’ anxiety symptoms and their peer experiences. There were also no gender differences in these associations. Overall, these findings expand current understanding of early adolescent anxiety symptoms by focusing on person-level variability in anxiety. How these findings parse the complex interplay between gender, and peer and individual risk and protective factors are discussed within the context of developmental psychopathology.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Self-blame
  • Peer victimization
  • Friendship closeness
  • Anxiety
  • Adolescence
  • Social competence

• Graduation date

  Fall 2017

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z60CG2D

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.