The relationships of coping, negative thinking, life satisfaction, social support, and selected demographics with anxiety of young adult college students.
OBJECTIVE
Understanding young adults' anxiety requires applying a multidimensional approach to assess the psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of this phenomenon.


METHODS
A hypothesized model of the relationships among coping style, thinking style, life satisfaction, social support, and selected demographics and anxiety among college students was tested using path analysis. A total of 257 undergraduate students aged 18-24 years completed an online survey. The independent variables were measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Brief Students' Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale, the Brief COPE Inventory, the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Cognition Checklist-Anxiety. The outcome, anxiety, was measured using the Anxiety subscale of the 21-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale.


RESULTS
Only negative thinking and maladaptive coping had a direct relationship with anxiety. Negative thinking was the strongest predictor of both maladaptive coping and anxiety.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that helping undergraduates manage their anxiety by reducing their negative thinking is critical. Designing and testing interventions to decrease negative thinking in college students is recommended for future research.
Kramer School of Nursing, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Jihan S R
JS
Mahmoud
School of Nursing, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
Ruth Topsy
RT
Staten
College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.
Terry A
TA
Lennie
Kramer School of Nursing, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Lynne A
LA
Hall
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013850:Thinking; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
Anxiety; college student; coping; multidimensional model; negative thinking