Contextual Stressors and Help-Seeking Barriers as Predictors of Anxiety Severity among Tertiary Students in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed contextual stressors and help-seeking barriers as predictors of anxiety severity among tertiary students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. The correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised 12,578 students in FCT, Abuja. The multistage sampling procedure was used to draw a sample size of 408 students. Contextual Stressors and Help-Seeking for Anxiety Questionnaire (CSHSBAQ) were used for data collection. The research questions were answered using point-biserial correlation (rbp), while multiple regression was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 alpha level. The findings showed that there were moderate positive relationships between anxiety and students’ social/environmental challenges (rbp = .372), curriculum/academic expectations challenges (rbp = .329), and financial stress (rbp =.368), except for students’ perceived academic achievement (rbp = .254) and time/balance challenges (rbp = .250), that had weak relationship with anxiety severity. Students’ fear of therapy (rbp = .344), fear of self-discovery (rbp =.366), and fear of stigma (rbp = .389) showed positive moderate relationships between anxiety severity and help-seeking barriers. Contextual stressors (social/environment β = 1.091, p < .001; financial stress β = 1.079, p < .001) and help-seeking barriers (fear of therapy β = 0.173, p = .001<.05; fear of self-discovery β = 0.219, p < .001; fear of stigma β = 0.216, p < .001) were significant predictors of anxiety among tertiary students. However, early identification of students at high risk for anxiety and professional help should be made available to the students when needed.