Study of Childhood Abuse and Anxiety: An Application of Logistic Regression
,
Abstract
Introduction: Disorders can often lead to physical illness and suffering along with associated functional disability which hampers the overall well-being of a person. Consequently, it can lead to loss of productivity at the workplace, absenteeism, and social isolation which eventually affects the individual and the society. Researchers have found a crucial association between childhood traumatic experiences with developing anxiety or panic disorder.
Methods: The purpose of this study is to do a logistic regression on Add health data to examine whether a history of childhood abuse tends to lead to a diagnosis of anxiety or panic disorder in later life. Add health dataset was used for the analysis. Additionally, medical conditions such as ADHD, PTSD or socio-economic conditions, and addiction were also investigated for their possible contribution to developing anxiety or panic disorder.
Results: 49.4 % of respondents reported having faced either physical, emotional, or sexual abuse before the age of 18. Among the total respondents, 12.5 % reported having been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and among these individuals, 25.9 % reported having experienced physical abuse, 64.6 % faced emotional abuse, and 10.3 % said they faced sexual abuse earlier in their life. Results from logistic regression showed all types of history of abuse have a significant effect on anxiety disorder. Additionally, the number of abuses experienced also increased the odds of developing an anxiety disorder. Women had higher odds of having such a disorder if they faced maltreatment in their childhood. Moreover, having PTSD and Depression also increased the odds of anxiety substantially.
Conclusion: Childhood emotional abuse was found to be a more significant contributor to anxiety or panic disorder than other types of abuse. Any kind of childhood abuse experience seemed to have a greater effect on the female portion of the respondents in comparison to the males.
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| Issue | Vol 8 No 3 (2022) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/jbe.v8i3.12307 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Logistic Regression Logit model Survey data analysis Add Health Anxiety and Panic Disorder. | ||
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