The relationships between quality of life and anxiety symptoms and the moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics in Taiwanese adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the associations of the seven domains of quality of life (QOL) on the Taiwanese Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adolescents (TQOLQA) with the severity of anxiety symptoms on the total Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-T) and the moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the association between QOL and anxiety symptoms among Taiwanese adolescents in the community.


METHODS
A total of 5,322 adolescents completed the TQOLQA, MASC-T, and the questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics without omission. The associations of the QOL on the TQOLQA with the severity of anxiety symptoms on the total MASC-T and socio-demographic characteristics were examined using multiple regression analysis. The moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the association between QOL and anxiety symptoms were also examined.


RESULTS
After controlling for the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, more severe anxiety symptoms on the total MASC-T were significantly associated with poorer QOL in all seven domains of QOL on the TQOLQA. Meanwhile, socio-demographic characteristics had moderating effects on the associations between some domains of QOL and anxiety symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Anxiety symptoms require intervention when developing strategies to improve the QOL of adolescents. Meanwhile, clinicians should take socio-demographic characteristics into consideration when working on QOL issues and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.
Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Cheng-Fang
CF
Yen
Pinchen
P
Yang
Chih-Hung
CH
Ko
Ju-Yu
JY
Yen
Fan-Ching
FC
Hsu
Yu-Yu
YY
Wu
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan
Psychol Med. 1998 May;28(3):551-8
9626712
Clin Psychol Rev. 2007 Jun;27(5):572-81
17343963
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986 Dec;51(6):1173-82
3806354
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2005 Jun;40(6):432-8
16003592
J Anxiety Disord. 2009 Dec;23(8):1086-90
19640675
Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2005 Feb;59(1):11-8
15679534
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2010 Jun;41(3):342-52
20182794
BMC Public Health. 2010 Apr 21;10:199
20409303
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2010 Dec;41(6):614-23
20490911
J Pain. 2009 May;10(5):447-85
19411059
J Aging Health. 1998 Aug;10(3):287-310
10343056
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2009 Nov;44(11):935-42
19255701
Qual Life Res. 2004 Mar;13(2):557-65
15085928
Qual Life Res. 2009 Aug;18(6):669-78
19430928
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998 May;55(5):405-13
9596043
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003 Aug;60(8):837-44
12912767
J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63 Suppl 14:4-8
12562112