Anxiety and Depression During Emerging Adulthood

Emerging adulthood is a specific period between late adolescence and adulthood. People in this group range between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. During this time frame, individuals juggle their obligations and responsibilities in a way that pushes them both psychologically and psychosocially. How these individuals cope with these types of stressors, demonstrates the person's wellness mentally.

Anxiety was shown in this study to be a prominent factor that contributed to depression amongst college-age students. The study used the five stages of distinctive developmental features to determine the level of hopelessness in each individual. The five steps of distinctive developmental features included; identity explorations, age of instability, most self-focused age of life, age of feeling in-between, and age of possibilities. Understanding these five developmental features was detrimental to understanding the perspective of these individuals. In turn, having an empathetic point of view can help one understand why these individuals developed a sense of hopelessness, which unfortunately sometimes leads to thoughts of suicide and harmful behavior.

The study that was conducted gathered the individual's anxiety level based upon the participant's age, gender, and amount of academic difficulty the student was experiencing in school. Hopelessness was the specific criterion for the study and to determine if anxiety and depression correlate to the hopelessness feeling.

Out of the one hundred and fifty participants that were selected for the study, only one hundred and thirty- two individuals completed it. Of these participants, 66.7% were female, and 33.3% were male. The ages of these individuals ranged from twenty to thirty years old. All of the participants were current university students, as well.

In order to complete the study, the students had to fill out research instrument scales within the allotted fifteen to twenty-minute time period window that was given. The research instrument scales that were used for this study were; Beck's Hopelessness Scale, Institute of Personality and Ability Testing Anxiety Scale, and a personal detail form.

Beck's Hopelessness Scale is comprised of twenty different statements, with the option of answering true or false to each question. After the questionnaire was completed, the students' score was tallied to determine the level and presence that the student was exhibiting at that time. In the Institute of Personality and Ability Testing Anxiety Scale, the survey was made up of forty questions that determined the level of anxiety that was present in the student. This scale was used to measure stress at the following levels; low self-control, emotional instability, suspicion, apprehension, and tension. By testing for these five dimensions, it exhibited a vast significance with the ability to predict hopelessness. This test used a three-point rating scale to determine the amount of anxiety that was present. Finally, the Personal details form was a form that documented the participant's name, age, gender, name of the course that they were taking, and the current semester that they were in. A final question on this form was whether or not the individual was currently struggling with their academics.

The results of this study demonstrated the connection that there seems to be between anxiety and hopelessness. Factors that were shown to increase anxiety the most was academic performance. The results also determined that men have a higher level of hopelessness than women, thus showing that gender also indicated a positive effect on hopelessness. The study was able to identify that age did not have any relevance in regards to hopelessness for this study.

In the Institute of Personality and Ability Testing Anxiety Scale, results showed that out of the five dimensions that were focused upon, exhibiting low self-control and tension were deemed to be red flags for the hopelessness feeling the most.

Overall, the study that was conducted was able to successfully demonstrate the ties that anxiety and the feeling of hopelessness have with one another. After viewing the results and seeing how academic performance and gender were the leading causes of the sense of hopelessness made me realize what a difficult time emerging adulthood is. Going to college is a challenge in itself, but when one adds in the additional challenges of juggling everyday life, such as; family, work, friends, and school, it can become even harder. Also, taking into account the amount of pressure that society puts on its young people to complete their college degree to be successful for their future is a lot of extra stress. Due to this hard and challenging time, it is imperative to offer support to our young people. Such support would be extremely beneficial for reducing the stressors that help contribute to the individual's anxiety. Thus, this, in turn, will diminish the feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide amongst those that are most susceptible and encourage positive mental health.

References

1. Rana, S., Lall, G., Mishra, A., Nandinee, D., & Vincent, K. (2014). Hopelessness during emerging adulthood: Contributions of anxiety. International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences, 3(4), 273. doi: 10.4103/2278-344x.143074