| Abstract [eng] |
Emerging adulthood is a distinct stage of life, ranging from 18 to 29 years, during which many important life events occur. However, although anxiety symptoms are particularly common among young adults, little is known about the associations between anxiety symptoms and functional difficulties during this life period. Therefore, this master's thesis aimed to examine the associations between anxiety symptoms and functional difficulties in emerging adulthood. The study included 80 young adults (81.3% women and 17.5% men), aged 18 to 25 years (M = 21.14, SD = 2.27). The data were obtained from the larger international research project “ADVANCE”, which is conducted in Lithuania by the Center for Psychotraumatology at Vilnius University. Anxiety symptoms were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) (Spitzer et al., 2006). Functioning difficulties were assessed using the 12-item version of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) (World Health Organization, 2010). The results showed that, in the total sample, higher anxiety symptoms were associated with greater overall functioning difficulties (r = 0.46, p < .001) and greater difficulties in all areas of functioning, except self-care. In the low-anxiety group, higher anxiety symptoms were also associated with greater overall functioning difficulties (r = 0.61, p = .008) and greater difficulties in cognition (r = 0.54, p = .020), life activities (r = 0.57, p = .013) and participation (r = 0.56, p = .016). The results also revealed that individuals with high anxiety experienced greater overall functioning difficulties (U = 227.50, p < .001) and greater difficulties in all areas of functioning, except self-care, compared with individuals with low anxiety symptoms. These findings indicate a need for interventions for young adults experiencing low and high levels of anxiety symptoms, aimed at assessing and reducing difficulties in everyday functioning. However, when interpreting the study results, it is important to consider the limitations described in the thesis. |
