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Do trait anxiety and age predict state anxiety of school-age children?

Ho Cheung William Li1, Violeta Lopez

  • 1The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China. williamli@cuhk.edu.hk

Journal of Clinical Nursing
|September 17, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Childhood trait anxiety strongly predicts state anxiety in stressful situations, unlike age. This finding aids nurses in identifying children needing preoperative psychological support for better surgical recovery.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Pediatric Nursing
  • Anxiety Research

Background:

  • Pediatric surgery induces significant stress and anxiety in children.
  • Identifying children prone to high anxiety is crucial for effective preoperative interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if trait anxiety and age predict state anxiety in children.
  • To differentiate anxiety responses in stressful versus relaxing situations.

Main Methods:

  • A test-retest design involved 519 primary school-age children.
  • Children completed the Chinese State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children.
  • Data collected under stressful (pre-exam) and relaxing (post-exam) conditions.

Main Results:

  • Trait anxiety was a strong predictor of state anxiety in stressful situations.
  • Trait anxiety did not predict state anxiety in relaxing situations.
  • Age was a weak predictor of state anxiety in both situations.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood trait anxiety predicts state anxiety in stressful contexts.
  • Trait anxiety scales can screen children at risk for surgical anxiety.
  • Early identification enables tailored preoperative interventions for improved recovery.
Abstract

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