Assessing anxiety among adolescents in Hong Kong: psychometric properties and validity of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in an epidemiological community sample

Table 1 Socio-demographics, GAD-7 scores and 30-day GAD of the study sample (N = 3,261)

Characteristics	Total Sample (N = 3,261)		GAD-7 scores	P-value	Effect size
Characteristics	n	%	Mean ± SD	P-value	Effect size
Sex
Male	1638	52.0	4.24 ± 4.42	<0.001	r = −0.129
Female	1623	49.8	5.19 ± 4.57	<0.001	r = −0.129
Age
15-17	782	24.0	4.37 ± 4.34	0.011	\({E}_R^2\) = 0.002
18-21	1215	37.2	4.65 ± 4.55
22-24	1264	38.8	4.97 ± 4.58
Currently in Education
Yes	2432	74.6	4.52 ± 4.37	0.001	r = −0.057
No	829	25.4	5.27 ± 4.90	0.001	r = −0.057
Lifetime psychiatric history
Yes	325	10.0	7.39 ± 5.88	<0.001	r = −0.167
No	2936	90.0	4.41 ± 4.24	<0.001	r = −0.167
GAD-7 total score (mean, SD)	n/a	n/a	4.71 ± 4.52	n/a	n/a
30-day GAD
Yes	51	1.6	12.21 ± 5.86	<0.001	r = −0.156
No	3210	98.4	4.59 ± 4.39	<0.001	r = −0.156

r = correlation coefficient ranging from –1.00 to 1.00; \(\mathrm E_{\mathrm R}^2\)= epsilon-squared estimate of effect size, the coefficient assumes the value from 0 (indicating no relationship) to 1 (indicating a perfect relationship)

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