GENDER AND PERSONALITY AS PREDICTORS OF ANXIETY AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN ENUGU URBAN
1Sandra O. Ezeh, 2Mgbenkemdi Ejike H.& Aboh J. Ogbole1
1Department of Behavioral Medicine, Nigerian Army Reference Hospitals, Kaduna
2Department of Psychology,
Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu
ABSTRACT
Anxiety has been considered the most prevalent manifestation of psychological distress, a common cause of poor academic performance among students. The study aimed to assess gender and personality as predictors of anxiety among undergraduates in Enugu urban. A total of 504 undergraduate students, 182 males and 322 females aged 17- 30 years (M = 23.51, SD = 3.34) across 4 institutions in Enugu participated in the study. Two instruments were used: the Big Five Inventory (BFI) (Omoluabi, 2002. The BFI was originally designed by John, Donahue and Kentle, (1991) and Anxiety Scale for Undergraduate Students (ASUS) by Singhal (2015). Data was collected using the Big Five inventory and the Anxiety Scale for Undergraduate Students. Results obtained revealed that gender did not predict anxiety among undergraduate students in Enugu urban, while personality traits neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness were found to significantly predict student’s anxiety. This study, therefore, provides further evidence of the role of gender and personality in predicting anxiety among undergraduate students in Enugu urban, which must be explored in depth as a target of preventive interventions in the area of students’ mental health.
Key words: Anxiety, Gender, Personality, Undergraduate students
