Gender and anxiety levels in elementary schoolchildren in urban areas of southeastern Mexico.

Abstract

Anxiety symptoms are among the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide. In order to analyze anxiety levels and gender differences in elementary school children, a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out. The population consisted of a total of 445 elementary school children who were administered the Manifest Anxiety Scale in Children. The results showed that 31.0% of the participants presented problematic levels of anxiety, and also showed a significant association between anxiety and gender (χ² = 11.25, gl = 1, p = 0.0008), indicating that problematic anxiety is more frequent in girls.