6 RECENT RESEARCH STUDIES ON ANXIETY AND MENTAL HEALTH
According to Kaplan and Saddock’s Synopsis Of Psychiatry (11th edition), 2015, anxiety is characterized most commonly as a diffuse, unpleasant, vague sense of apprehension, often accompanied by autonomic symptoms such as headache, perspiration, palpitation, tightness in chest, mild stomach ache and restlessness, indicated by an inability to sit or stand for too long.
Malhotra and Sabharwi (2013), investigated the relation between anxiety and the mental health of the adolescents. These were studied with respect to different demographic variables like gender, locality, and academic stream. Sample included 150 randomly selected adolescents, i.e, 75 males and 75 females. For obtaining the data on anxiety and mental health, (Sinha’s Comprehensive Anxiety Test) S.C.A.T by Sinha and Sinha (1955) and Mental Health Checklist (M.H.C.) by Kumar (1992) were used respectively. Study found significant difference in anxiety and mental health of male and female adolescents. Also, a high correlation between anxiety and mental health of adolescents was noted.
More on student anxiety
Thakar (2016) measured anxiety level in youth of high school students in his study.S.C.A.T. was used to measure the level of anxiety. The sample was selected randomly of 125 students consisting of 59 males and 66 females. Result showed significant difference between youth (male and female). School students differ in respect to anxiety.
Verma and Kumari, (2014) aimed to access the anxiety level of college students across the gender. 60 students were randomly selected from two colleges and divided into two groups consisting of 30 boys and 30 girls. S.C.A.T. was used in this study. It was found 68.33% of respondents had extremely high anxiety. Girls had higher anxiety in comparison to boys.
The literature regarding exercise for people with established anxiety disorders are equivocal. To address this issue, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted investigating the benefits of exercise compared to usual treatment or control conditions in people with an anxiety and/or stress-related disorders. Exercise significantly decreased anxiety symptoms more than control conditions, with a moderate effect size. The data suggest that exercise is effective in improving anxiety symptoms in people with a current diagnosis of anxiety and/ or stress-related disorders. Taken together with the wider benefits of exercise on wellbeing and cardiovascular health, these findings reinforce exercise as an important treatment option in people with anxiety/stress disorders (Brendon Stubbs, 2017).
