Relationship between coping styles and anxiety status among middle school students in Anhui province during COVID-19 epidemic

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyze the coping style and its relationship with anxiety status among middle school students aged 13 to 18 in Anhui province during the COVID-19 epidemic.MethodsFrom February 13 to 19， 2020， a cross-sectional survey was conducted among middle school students in Anhui province by using convenience sampling method and network questionnaire. The assessment tools included the Coping Style Scale for Middle School Students （CSSMSS） and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders （SCARED）.ResultsThe results of the CSSMSS evaluation showed that female students scored higher in emotion abreaction than male students ［（8.27±2.98） vs. （7.84±2.91）］. The scores of tolerance ［（9.74±2.73） vs. （9.11±2.60）］， escape ［（7.82±2.79） vs. （7.26±2.44）］， emotion abreaction ［（8.48±2.97） vs. （7.91±2.93）］ and fantasy/denial ［（9.79±3.56） vs. （9.26±3.47）］ of senior high school students were higher than those of junior high school students， and the score of problem solving ［（19.38±4.07） vs. （20.33±4.54）］ was lower than that of junior high school students， with statistical significance （P<0.05 or 0.01）. Correlation analysis results showed that the scores of tolerance， escape， emotion abreaction and fantasy/deny in CSSMSS were positively correlated with the scores of SCARED of middle school students in Anhui province （r=0.348， 0.287， 0.390， 0.501， P<0.01）.ConclusionDuring COVID-19 epidemic， students of different genders and grades in Anhui province have different coping styles， and some coping styles may induce anxiety status.

Keywords

• covid-19
• middle school students
• coping style
• anxiety