Kuwait University Anxiety Scale Research Articles

Anxiety and depression during pregnancy in the era of COVID-19.

This study aimed to evaluate anxiety and depression in pregnant women during this global disease. This was a cross-sectional study recruiting 120 pregnant women. The study was conducted at the outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital. We recruited women attending for antenatal care. Anxiety was evaluated using an Arabic validated Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS). Depression was evaluated using a validated Arabic form of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The study included 48 (40%) nulliparous and 72 (60%) multiparous women. The mean KUAS scores for nulliparous and multiparous women were 45.27±10.78 and 47.28±10.62. Both nulliparous and multiparous women had a fairly high possibility of depression. Fifty-three (44.2%) of them reported scores≥of 14. Ninety-three (77.5%) women thought that COVID-19 pandemic would affect their pregnancies. There was a significant association between the number of women reporting fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic and their KUAS and EPDS scores (p-value <0.001 each). COVID-19 affected the mental health of pregnant women to a great extent. Care should be directed to measures that would decrease the impact of this pandemic on vulnerable populations.

Validation of three mental health scales among pregnant women in Qatar

ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to validate three mental health scales in a targeted sample of pregnant Arab women living in Qatar: the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.MethodsRandom split-half exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses (n = 336; n = 331), conducted separately, were used to evaluate scale dimensionality, factor loadings, and factor structure of the KUAS, the PSS, and the EPDS.ResultsFit statistics for the three scales suggested adequate fit to the data and estimated factor loadings were positive, similar in magnitude, and were significant. The final CFA model for the KUAS supported a 19-item, two factor structure. CFA models also confirmed 8- and 10-item, single-factor structures for the PSS and EPDS, respectively.ConclusionsThe validation of scales for these aspects of mental health in Arab pregnant women is critical to ensure appropriate screening, identification, and treatment to reduce the risk of sequelae in women and their children. Findings offer a useful comparison to mental-health scale validations in other Arab contexts.

Gender differences in anxiety among secondary school in Kuwait

IntroductionAnxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders, and their prevalence is substantially higher in women than in men. Research has confirmed the existence of gender differences in several types of anxiety disorders.ObjectivesThe current investigation sought to determine whether any observable gender differences existed in anxiety for a nonclinical sample.Methodsthe sample consisted of 300 males and 300 female students from a secondary school in Kuwait. The genders were matched in age (males = 16.52 ± 0.90 &amp; females = 16.37 ± 0.96, t = 1.93, P &gt; .05). The inclusion criteria for all participants: sample of the population of Al-Jahra city, aged between 15 and 18 years old, school grades 10, 11, 12, and the social status of the parents (married). The Arabic version of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was administered to participants. BAI reliabilities ranged from .88 to .87 with a mean .87 (alpha) denoting good internal consistency. The convergent correlations in eight samples between BAI and Kuwait University Anxiety Scale KUAS (mean r = .52) for validity coefficients.ResultsThe results revealed that females (18.67 ± 11.11) had significantly higher mean anxiety than their male (14.52 ± 10.37) counterparts (f = 22.27, P &lt; .000).ConclusionTherefore, we can conclude that female preponderance of anxiety has been a consistent finding within literature.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Reported Nightmares and Trait Anxiety Among Arab Children, Adolescents and Adults

Background: Research on the association between nightmares and anxiety has reached conflicting results. Further, the Arabic studies in this domain are scarce. Objective: This study sought to investigate the relation between reported nightmares and trait anxiety among a large sample of Arab students. Methods: A convenience sample of non-clinical 8,218 school and university Arab students took part in this study. They were classified into 13 age groups (from 12 to 24). A self-rating scale was used to assess nightmares based on the participant's perceived frequency during the last month. A 5-point Likert type scale was used as follows: 0: No; 1: A little; 2: Moderate; 3: Much and 4: Very much. The Kuwait University Anxiety Scale was also used. Results: All the Pearson correlation coefficients between reported nightmares and trait anxiety were statistically significant and positive in all of the 13 age groups, and ranged between 0.38 and 0.53, with a median of 0.44. Conclusion: On the basis of a large sample of Arab students, and two scales with good psychometric properties, we can suggest that anxiety level should be considered in participants who experiencing nightmares.

Depression and Anxiety: Cross Cultural and Gender Study

Introduction In this study we compare the levels of depression and anxiety among Kuwaiti and Iraqi females and males. Iraqi people have been living in war while Kuwaitis were not directly exposed to this experience. Objectives to examine the relationship between culture, gender, depression and anxiety. Methods Standard Arabic Versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS) were administered to undergraduates from Kuwait and Iraq, (511 Kuwaiti & 726 Iraqi), (618 males & 619 females). The mean age of the sample was 20.81±1.80. Results Reliabilities ranged from .80 to .89 (alpha) for the BDI-II & from .80 to .89 for the KUAS, denoting good internal consistency. The correlation between the BDI-II & KUAS ranged from .50 to .73 denoting a divergent validity of the scales. Females significantly had higher depression scores than males in both societies (f=35.89, p,

Construction of Anxiety and Dimensional Personality Model in College Students

A sample of 402 volunteer male (n = 156) and female (n = 246) Kuwaiti undergraduates responded to the Arabic versions of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The latter questionnaire has four subscales: Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie. Women obtained a higher mean score on Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and Neuroticism than did men, while men had a higher mean score on Psychoticism than did women. Factor analysis of the intercorrelations between the five variables, separately conducted for men and women, gave rise to two orthogonal factors called Anxiety-and-Neuroticism vs Extraversion, and Psychoticism vs Lie. Stepwise regression revealed that Neuroticism was the main predictor of anxiety. It was concluded that persons with high Neuroticism scores may be more vulnerable to anxiety than those with low scores.

Convergent Validity of the Arabic Scale of Mental Health

To estimate the convergent validity of the Arabic Scale of Mental Health, three convenience separate samples (ns = 162, 168, 138) of volunteer Kuwaiti college students, ages 19 to 32 years, responded anonymously to several scales measuring psychopathology. Analyses showed total ratings for the scale correlated negatively with those of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, Factorial Arabic Neuroticism Scale, Somatic Symptoms Inventory, Arabic Scale of Insomnia, the nine subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90-R, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the seven subscales of the General Health Questionnaire. Three separate correlation matrices were subjected to principal components analyses for which a single bipolar factor, Mental health versus psychopathology, was retained in all three matrices. Loadings for the Arabic Scale of Mental Health were -.76, -.64, and -.76. It was concluded that this scale has suitable convergent validity.

P01-135 - Gender differences in anxiety among undergraduates from twenty two countries

ObjectiveThe aim of the current investigation was to explore gender related differences in anxiety among undergraduates from 22 countries.MethodStandard Arabic Version of the Kuwait University Anxiety scale (comprised of 20 brief statements, answered on a 4-point intensity scale, anchored by 1: Rarely and 4: Always) was administered to Arabic undergraduates, recruited from the following countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudis Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, U.A. Emirate, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. (n = 608, 271, 879, 842, 948, 780, 782, 435, 154, 393, 342, 833, 1185, 275, 291, 295, 375, &amp; 706. While the English Version was administered to American (n = 273) and Pakistan (n = 462) samples, the Germen version was administered to the Germen subjects (n = 157), Moreover the Spanish version was administered to the Spanish sample (n = 312).ResultsIt was found that females significantly had higher mean anxiety scores than did their male counterparts in 15 countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Pakistan, American, &amp; Spain.ConclusionFemale preponderance of anxiety has been a consistent finding. In the present researcher opinion, the anxiety score of any given person is the end product of both biological and psychosocial factors and their interaction. Furthermore, the response styles, especially social desirability and the tendency to hyperbole had an impact on anxiety score.

Religiosity, subjective well-being, self-esteem, and anxiety among Kuwaiti Muslim adolescents

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between religiosity, subjective well-being (SWB), self-esteem, and anxiety among a sample of 499 Muslim Kuwaiti adolescents (Mages = 16.87, SD = 1.49). It is expected that there will be significant correlations between religiosity and SWB, self-esteem (positive), and anxiety (negative). Six self-rating scales were used to assess religiosity, religious belief, physical health, mental health, happiness, and satisfaction with life, along with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. No significant sex-related differences were detected on all the scales. All the correlations were significant between religiosity and SWB rating scales, self-esteem (positive) and anxiety (negative). A principal components analysis yielded a high loaded, bipolar factor labelled “Religiosity and well-being versus anxiety.” Results suggest that religiosity is associated with high levels of self-rating of SWB, self-esteem and low levels of anxiety. The present findings provide further evidence for a probable mollifying role of religiosity in providing a buffering effect on anxiety in the current sample of Muslim adolescents.

Constructions of religiosity, subjective well-being, anxiety, and depression in two cultures: Kuwait and USA

The aim of the present study was to explore the associations of religiosity with subjective well-being (SWB) and psychopathology (anxiety and depression) among college students recruited from two different cultures, Kuwait (n = 192) and the USA (n = 158). The students responded to the following scales in their native languages, Arabic and English, respectively: the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, the Love of Life Scale, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale. They also responded to six self-rating scales assessing happiness, satisfaction with life, mental health, physical health, religiosity and strength of religious belief. The Kuwaiti students obtained higher mean scores on religiosity, religious belief and depression than did their American counterparts, whereas American students had higher mean scores on happiness and love of life. Two factors were extracted: 'SWB versus psychopathology' and 'Religiosity'. Based on the responses of the present two samples, it was concluded that those who consider themselves as religious experienced greater well-being.

Síndrome de burnout y riesgo suicida en enfermeras de atención primaria

Objective To observe the prevalence of the burnout syndrome and the relationship with suicide risk, self-esteem, anxiety and depression, in a sample of primary care nurses. Method Observational, cross-sectional and correlational study. The sample consisted of 146 nursing professionals, 131 women and 15 men, with an average age of 44.02 years (SD=10.89). Participants responded to a questionnaire which included the Spanish forms of the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI), the Plutchik Suicide Risk Scale (SR), the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). In the inferential statistical analysis, Pearson's r coefficients and multiple linear regression were calculated. Results Significant correlations between suicidal risk and anxiety, depression, self-esteem, emotional exhaustion and personal performance, were obtained. In the multiple regression analysis, depression was the main predictor of suicidal risk, followed by anxiety and emotional exhaustion. Conclusions The scores obtained in burnout and suicidal risk were, in general, lower than those observed in other studies, emphasising the high level observed in personal performance, which reflects reasonable professional satisfaction. The results show the important role of working atmosphere and early recognition of mental disorders in burnout and suicidal risk prevention.

Differences in Anxiety Scores of College Students from Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the USA

A sample of 243 (114 men, 129 women) British university undergraduates responded to the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale in English. Their scores were compared with scores for 207 German, 312 Spanish, and 320 USA students previously tested. Analysis showed German men had the lowest mean score across the male groups, as did German women across the female groups. Women from the USA had the highest mean anxiety score. Sex differences for scores on the scale were significant only in the samples from Spain and the USA, with women scoring higher than men.

Reliability, Factorial Validity, and Means on the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale: A UK University Sample

A sample of 243 (114 men and 129 women) British university undergraduates (M age=22.5 yr., SD=5.8; M age=22.0 yr., SD=5.7, respectively) completed the English version of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Principal components analysis with the use of parallel analysis and a scree test suggest that in the current sample the items form a single factor and show a coefficient alpha of .92, denoting high internal consistency. No significant mean difference was found by sex. By and large, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale can be recommended for use in research among college students in the United Kingdom.

OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM IN KUWAITI AND OMANI UNDERGRADUATES

In this study we investigated cultural differences and correlates of optimism and pessimism in Kuwaiti (n = 600) and Omani (n = 600) undergraduates. All respondents completed the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism (ASOP; Abdel-Khalek &amp; Alansari, 1995), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, &amp; Brown, 1996), and the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS; Abdel-Khalek, 2000). The ASOP displayed good internal consistency, a meaningful factorial structure and interpretable factors in both countries. It was found that optimism correlated negatively with the above scales, while the correlations of pessimism were positive, indicating the convergent validity of the ASOP. The Kuwaiti mean score on optimism was significantly lower than the mean of their Omani counterparts, and no significant cultural differences were found for pessimism.

A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE KUWAIT UNIVERSITY ANXIETY SCALE

A sample of 2,754 male and female undergraduate students from 9 different Arab countries responded to the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS: Abdel-Khalek, 2000). This study extends the exploratory factor analyses performed in previous studies, using confirmatory factor analysis to test four models derived from Kuwaiti, Saudi, German and American samples. Four measures were used to assess the goodness of fit as follows: the Comparative Fit Index (Hu &amp; Bentler, 1999), the Root Mean Square Errors of Approximation (Gao et al., 2004), the Normed Fit Index, and the Goodness of Fit (Sanders et al., 2005). In applying these measures, it was found that the Saudi three-factor model is an optimal model. It is particularly noteworthy that the Saudi factorial pattern was based on a large sample size (N = 9,031). By and large, the present results confirmed that the best fitted model on the KUAS was the threefactor model, namely, Cognitive/affective, Tension/nervousness, and Somatic anxiety.

Religiosity, happiness, health, and psychopathology in a probability sample of Muslim adolescents

The aim of the present study was to explore the religiosity associations with the self-rating scales of happiness, mental health, physical health, anxiety, and depression. A sample (N = 6,339) of Muslim Kuwaiti adolescents was recruited. Their ages ranged from 15 to 18. They responded to four self-rating scales to assess religiosity, happiness, mental health, and physical health, as well as the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. Boys had higher mean scores on happiness, mental health, and physical health than did girls, whereas girls had higher mean scores on religiosity, anxiety, and depression. All the correlations were significant in both sexes. They were positive between each of the self-rating scales of religiosity, happiness, mental health, and physical health, and negative between these four rating scales and both anxiety and depression. A high-loaded and bipolar factor was disclosed and labelled “Religiosity and well-being vs. psychopathology.” In the stepwise regression, the main predictor of religiosity was happiness in both sexes.

Factorial Structure of the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale in a Large Sample of College Students: Rejoinder

Recently a study by Lester of American college students found a different factor structure for the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale than studies with students from Arab countries. Thus, a large sample of college students (N=3064) was recruited from 10 Arab countries to examine the replicability of the factors previously extracted from the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Three factors, identified in the present sample, were compatible with those in the prior larger sample (N=9031). These were labeled Cognitive/Affective Anxiety, Subjective Anxiety or Nervousness, and Somatic Anxiety. The factorial pattern of the scale has been verified by both large samples.

Sibship Size, Birth Order, and Personaltiy among Kuwaiti College Students

In a sample of 460 (103 men, 357 women) Kuwaiti college students (M age=21.9 yr., SD=3.0), scores on the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism, the Death Obsession Scale, the Arabic Scale of Obsession-Compulsion, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, the Taoist Orientation Scale, and the Suicidal Ideation Scale were not associated with sibship size and birth order.

Religiosity and its association with positive and negative emotions among college students from Algeria

To explore the associations between religiosity and both positive and negative emotions and traits, a sample of 244 volunteer Muslim college students from Algeria was recruited. The students responded to five self-rating scales to assess religiosity, physical health, mental health, happiness, and satisfaction with life, in addition to the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism, and the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Religiosity and satisfaction with life were higher among women than men. Among men, religiosity was significantly correlated only with mental health. However, in women, religiosity was significantly and positively correlated with physical health, mental health, happiness, satisfaction with life, and optimism, whereas religiosity correlated negatively with both anxiety and pessimism. Factor analysis yielded a single bipolar factor labelled positive emotions and religiosity vs. neurotic tendency (anxiety and pessimism) in women. Two orthogonal factors were extracted in men: positive vs. negative traits of mental health, and religiosity. The present results are compatible with the wider literature on the association between religion and positive variables among a Muslim context.

THE IMPACT OF GENDER, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION ON PERFORMANCE ON PURSUIT ROTOR

In this study the impact of gender, levels of anxiety, and depression on pursuit rotor performance task was investigated. The participants were 292 undergraduate students (171 men and 121 women) of Kuwait University, Kuwait. They completed an anxiety scale, depression scale, and 4 speed levels of pursuit rotor. They were divided into 3 groups (low, middle, and high anxiety and depression) based on their scores on the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS; Abdel-Khalek, 2000) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, &amp; Erbaugh, 1961). The results revealed that groups of men with low levels of anxiety, and high level of depression showed significant increment in performance and had more time on target than the other groups in all 4 speed sessions, whereas women displayed less time on target of pursuit rotor.