12. Stress characteristics and coping strategies among adolescents with general anxiety disorder

Nguyen Van Tuan, Tran Thi Thu Ha, Nguyen Hoang Yen

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Abstract

This is a cross sectional descriptive study of 51 adolescents from 10 to 19 years old diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder to assess stress characteristics and coping strategies. Patients were recruited for the study when they presented for examination and treatment at Bach Mai Hospital and the National Children Hospital. Results: the most common stress was academic requirement (43.1%) graded exams (41.2%) and people's expectations (17.6%). The stress levels are most often average. The three most commonly stress coping strategies are self-blame, anger, and dissociation. Active coping strategies are more often exercised by late teen adolescent males. Males are more likely to cope with stress by actively solving emotional problems and other problems than female. Females had a higher limit of passively coping with stress than males, the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.024).

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References

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