Journal Articles

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Browsing Journal Articles by Author "Bowen, Michael"

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    Age Comparisons in the Prevalence and Severity of Anxiety Disorders Among Children and Adolescents from Nairobi, Kenya
    (African Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2021) James, Naomi; Muchiri, Josephine W.; Bowen, Michael
    The purpose of the study was to compare age differences in the prevalence and severity of anxiety disorders among 163 children and adolescents (8-16 years) drawn from Kabiria and Kawangware primary schools, in Dagoretti Constituency, Nairobi County Kenya. Data on prevalence and severity of anxiety disorders was collected using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)-Child version. Quantitative data analysis using the statistical package for social sciences version 20 revealed presence of anxiety disorders (M ≥ 25) for most respondents (M8-16 years= 33.67, 79.1%). The severity and prevalence of anxiety disorders per age group were M 8-10 years=37.36, 83.3%; M 11-13 years=35.80, 87.7% and M 14-16 years = 30.58, 72.5%. The analysis of variance revealed statistically significant age differences in severity of the ADs between the 8-10 and 14-16 year old (p=0.005) and the 11-13 and 14-16 year old (p=0.024) but not the 8-10 and 11-13 year old (p=0.570). Among the 8-10 year old, separation anxiety (83.3%) and panic disorder (81%) were the most prevalent pointing to high comorbidity rates that start early. Social anxiety (M=8.28) and generalized anxiety (M=7.68) were more severe for the 11-13 year old. Overall, the results indicated early age of onset of ADs with severity moderated by increased age, but also a waxing and waning course across the lifespan. Findings thus highlighted the importance of early intervention to curb chronicity.
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    The Impact of Gender in the Prevalence, Severity and Comorbidities of Anxiety Disorders. Case of Children from Selected Schools in Dagoretti Sub-County, Nairobi County, Kenya.
    (African Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2021) James, Naomi; Muchiri, Josephine W.; Bowen, Michael
    This correlational survey research investigated the impact of gender on the prevalence, severity and comorbidities of anxiety disorders. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)-Child version questionnaire collected data on prevalence and severity of anxiety disorders while the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (S&DQ) collected data on some of the comorbid conditions. Participants were 163 class 4 and class 8 students (n females = 94, n males = 69), attending two public day primary schools, Kabiria and Kawangware primary schools in Dagoretti Sub-County, Nairobi County, Kenya. Data was analyzed quantitatively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 20) utilizing descriptive statistics, Pearson Chi-Square tests and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Overall, descriptive statistics showed that females had higher prevalence rates for the ADs (85.1%) compared to males (71%) and the ANOVA revealed statistically significant gender differences in severity of the ADs (p= 0.004). The Chi-Square test of independence showed there was no significant association between gender and homotypic comorbidities X2 (1, N = 163) = 1.68, p = 0.194), where the average number of AD subtypes among females was 3.25 and 3.17 for the males. In the heterotypic comorbidities, more females than males had comorbid emotional problems (Females =13.6%; Males = 4%) and more males than females had peer, hyperactivity and conduct problems (Males: peer= 48.0%, hyperactivity = 20.0%, conduct= 32.0%; Females: peer= 39.3%, hyperactivity = 18.2%, conduct= 15.2%). The findings thus revealed underlying gender specific factors that have a bearing on the prevalence, severity and comorbidity patterns of anxiety disorders.