Abstract

The authors studied anxiety, using Zung's SelfRating Anxiety Scale (SAS), in the subjects of 3,893 male and 1,976 female college students of Yeungnam University. The authors collected the reports of SAS during the periods from October to November, 1984, and applied ANOVA and ttest on the anxiety scores in order to compare them between various psychosocial factors, and sexes. The results could be summarized as follows: There was significant difference in the mean averages of total anxiety scores between male and female students; male students scored 36.92±7.07, female students scored 39.63±7.51, p<0.001. The anxiety scores relating to the items of sweating, apprehension, restlessness, insomnia, dyspnea were relatively higher in both groups. The anxiety scores in the items of paresthesias, mental disintegration, tremors, faintness, dizziness were lower in both groups. Two hundred and one male students (5.2%) showed seriously high anxiety scores of 50 or higher, while 201 female students (10.2%) showed the same scores. So the authors inferred that the features of anxiety symptoms were much the same in our country, but females showed more various symptoms and higher level of anxiety than males. In a comparison between male students in different school grades, freshmen showed the highest level of anxiety scores and as the grades of the students became higher, the levels of anxiety scores were lower. The female students who resided in dormitory or other residences, and whose educational fees were paid by brothers or sisters, showed higher level of anxiety scores. There was s strong tendency toward higher anxiety scores in the students who were dissatisfied with their colleges or departments, and who had pessimistic views of self-image in the past, present, or future, in both groups.