Objective: To understand the current situation and influencing factors of anxiety symptoms of employees in Deyang City, and provide basis for formulating psychological intervention strategies for employees. Method: We investigate the anxiety status of 3217 employees aged 18 - 60 who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria in a health management center in Deyang City from March to October 2022. The survey tool is the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). Using frequency statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression to analyze the current situation and influencing factors. Result: 3048 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective recovery rate of 94.75%. 471 people were judged to have anxiety symptoms, with a positive rate of 15.45%. There are statistically significant differences in the presence of anxiety symptoms among different genders, education levels, age groups, marital status, working years, income levels and positions. Among the patients with positive anxiety symptoms, the top five single symptoms were sleep (84.08%), weakness and fatigue (74.52%), feeling calm (73.89%), everything was good (70.28%), dry and warm hands and feet (64.33%). Logistic regression analysis showed that unmarried, male and high education was protective factors for anxiety. Conclusion: The incidence of anxiety symptoms among employees in Deyang City is higher than the national level. Divorced or widowed female employees with low educational background may be the key group to implement psychological intervention. Sleep problems can lead to anxiety, while anxiety can also lead to sleep disorders. The two interact and form a vicious circle, suggesting that improving sleep can alleviate anxiety among employees.
Anxiety is a complex emotional state, mainly manifested in negative emotions such as anxiety, worry, and tension. It is an emotional state generated by people about the dangers and threats they may face in the future. If anxiety is excessive, it can lead to psychological imbalances in individuals, causing damage to their physical and mental health ( Liu & Qi, 2018 ). The psychological health level of in-service employees directly affects their work attitude and efficiency, thereby affecting the development of the enterprise. With the progress of society and technology, changes in labor, lifestyle, and labor organization processes, the pace of work and life has significantly accelerated, and occupational anxiety has become a prominent occupational health problem for employees’ mental health. This study investigated the anxiety status of 3048 employees in Deyang City, and analyzed its influencing factors. It has positive significance in reducing the incidence of anxiety among employees, promoting and maintaining their mental health.
An anxiety status survey was conducted among employees aged 18 - 60 who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria during a health examination conducted at a health management center in Deyang City from March to October 2022. Inclusion criteria: 1) Have basic reading comprehension skills and be able to complete the questionnaire by oneself. 2) Agree to participate in this study. All procedures met the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.
1) General situation questionnaire: including gender, age, educational background, marital status, income, working years, and position
2) Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, SAS ( Sun, 2018 ): SAS was developed by Zung, which can help individuals understand their subjective feelings of anxiety and assess whether they have anxiety symptoms and the severity of anxiety symptoms. The scale includes 20 self-evaluation items, of which 15 items are positive and 5 items are negative. Each item is scored using a 1 - 4 level scoring method. The total score of 20 items is the basic score, and the basic score X1.25 is the standard score. The standard score ranges from 25 to 100 points. The higher the standard score, the more severe the anxiety tendency. The specific judgment criteria are shown in
| Standard score | Anxiety Status |
|---|---|
| <50 | No anxiety symptoms |
| 50 - 59 | Mild anxiety symptoms |
| 60 - 69 | Moderate anxiety symptoms |
| ≥70 | Severe anxiety symptoms |
The PEM psychological examination management system was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on employees participating in the survey. The respondents used computers to fill out the questionnaire separately in the compartment. Before the survey starts, professional investigators will conduct project introductions, informed consent, and unified guidelines. During the investigation process, if there are unclear questions, on-site investigators can be invited to explain them.
The investigation steps are conducted by professional investigators, who receive unified training and guidance before implementation. The survey was conducted using a computerized PEM psychological examination management system, which was completed by the respondents themselves, to avoid data distortion due to concerns about privacy disclosure. The recovered questionnaire was logically proofread by two members of the project team. Questionnaires with missing items, incorrect items, or logical errors, as well as questionnaires with a response time of less than 300 seconds, were determined as unqualified and were rejected.
The data were exported from the PEM psychological examination management system and statistically analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software. The measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (x ± s), and the counting data were expressed as frequency, constituent ratio, or rate; Chi-square test was used to compare the positive rates of anxiety symptoms among groups with different characteristics; Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of anxiety symptoms among respondents, with a statistically significant difference of P < 0.05.
1) Basic information. In this study, a total of 3217 questionnaires were collected, and two people conducted logical proofreading to eliminate omissions, errors, and 369 questionnaires with a filling time of <300 seconds. Finally, 3048 questionnaires were effectively collected, with an effective recovery rate of 94.75%. Among them, 1962 men (64.37%) and 1086 women (35.63%); The average age was (41.35 ± 9.84) years old; The education level is mainly undergraduate, accounting for 63.22%; The main age is 31 - 40 years old, accounting for 38.32%; The majority of employees have worked for 10 - 15 years, accounting for 22.05%; The majority of positions are staff and below, accounting for 69.19%. See
2) Positive situation of anxiety symptoms: A total of 471 respondents had anxiety symptoms, with a positive rate of 15.45%. See
3) Occurrence of anxiety symptoms among employees with different basic information: The χ2 test results show that there are statistically significant differences in the presence or absence of anxiety symptoms among different genders, educational levels, age groups, marital status, working years, income levels, and positions. See
4) Logistic regression analysis of anxiety symptoms in employees: Using whether anxiety symptoms occur as independent variables and gender, educational level, age group, marital status, working years, income level, and position as dependent variables, a logistic regression analysis was conducted. The results showed that age group, income, level, and working years did not enter the regression equation. Unmarried, male, and high educational background are protective factors for anxiety, as shown in
1) In this study, the self rating anxiety score of the investigated employees was 38.4 ± 10.7, higher than the national norm (37.2 ± 12.6) ( Wang & Guan, 2021 ), with a statistically significant difference. It indicates that employees may be prone to anxiety due to long-term frequent overload work, coupled with greater work pressure ( Li et al., 2022 ). It is suggested that attention should be paid to the
| Characteristic | population | composition ratio (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||
| male | 1962 | 64.37 |
| female | 1086 | 35.63 |
| degree of education | ||
| Junior high school and below | 46 | 1.51 |
| high school | 55 | 1.80 |
| junior college | 503 | 16.50 |
| undergraduate | 1927 | 63.22 |
| Master’s degree candidate | 511 | 16.77 |
| PhD Candidate | 6 | 0.20 |
| Age | ||
| Under 30 years of age | 415 | 13.62 |
| 31 - 40 | 1168 | 38.32 |
| 41 - 50 | 760 | 24.93 |
| 51 - 60 | 705 | 23.13 |
| marital status | ||
| unmarried | 354 | 11.61 |
| married | 2577 | 84.55 |
| Other (divorced/widowed) | 117 | 3.84 |
| Years of service | ||
| 5 years and below | 242 | 7.94 |
| 5 - 10 years | 399 | 13.09 |
| 10 - 15 years | 672 | 22.05 |
| 15 - 20 years | 420 | 13.78 |
| 20 - 25 years | 378 | 12.40 |
| 25 - 30 years | 356 | 11.68 |
| Over 30 years | 581 | 19.06 |
| Income level | ||
| Up to 3000 yuan | 324 | 10.63 |
| 3000 - 5000 yuan | 1036 | 33.99 |
| RMB 5000 - 10,000 | 1470 | 48.23 |
| 10,000 - 15,000 yuan | 170 | 5.58 |
| 15,000 - 20,000 yuan | 19 | 0.62 |
| Above 20,000 yuan | 29 | 0.95 |
| Post level | ||
| Department level and below | 2109 | 69.19 |
| Above department level | 939 | 30.81 |
| Anxiety Status | population | composition ratio (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Mild anxiety symptoms | 315 | 10.33 |
| Moderate anxiety symptoms | 119 | 3.90 |
| Severe anxiety symptoms | 37 | 1.21 |
| Total | 471 | 15.45 |
| Questionnaire content | All respondents | Anxiety positive objects | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| population | composition ratio (%) | population | composition ratio (%) | |
| Easy to fall asleep and sleep well* | 1100 | 36.09 | 396 | 84.08 |
| Feels vulnerable to weakness and fatigue | 633 | 20.77 | 351 | 74.52 |
| Feel calm* | 753 | 24.7 | 348 | 73.89 |
| Thought everything was fine* | 621 | 20.37 | 331 | 70.28 |
| Hands and feet are often dry and warm* | 845 | 27.72 | 303 | 64.33 |
| Feeling upset or frightened | 316 | 10.37 | 248 | 52.65 |
| Easier to be nervous or anxious than usual | 321 | 10.53 | 242 | 51.38 |
| Suffering from headaches, neck pain, and back pain | 376 | 12.34 | 239 | 50.74 |
| Feel like you’re going crazy | 179 | 5.87 | 158 | 33.55 |
| Feel easy to exhale and inhale* | 251 | 8.23 | 151 | 32.06 |
| Feeling scared for no reason | 144 | 4.72 | 132 | 28.03 |
| Frequent urination | 283 | 9.28 | 120 | 25.48 |
| Suffering from stomach pain and indigestion | 204 | 6.69 | 118 | 25.05 |
| Distressed by dizziness | 142 | 4.66 | 116 | 24.63 |
| I feel my heart beating fast | 137 | 4.49 | 113 | 23.99 |
| Have nightmares | 136 | 4.46 | 97 | 20.59 |
| Have a faint attack or feel about to faint | 85 | 2.79 | 81 | 17.2 |
| Numbness and tingling of hands and feet | 112 | 3.67 | 73 | 15.5 |
| Blush and fever | 116 | 3.81 | 65 | 13.8 |
| Hands and feet tremble | 65 | 2.13 | 51 | 10.83 |
Note: * is a reverse scoring question.
anxiety symptoms of employees, and early detection, assistance, and intervention should be achieved through regular screening.
2) The positive detection rate of anxiety symptoms among employees in this study is 15.45%, which is higher than the detection rate in the research conducted by Wang Xinye ( Wang et al., 2013 ) and lower than the detection rate in the research conducted by Li Yatong ( Li et al., 2022 ), indicating that the positive
| Variable | Number of respondents | Anxiety positive objects | χ2 | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | 8.091 | 0.004 | ||
| male | 1962 | 276 (14.07) | ||
| female | 1086 | 195 (17.96) | ||
| degree of education | 12.177 | 0.032 | ||
| Junior high school and below | 46 | 7 (15.22) | ||
| high school | 55 | 8 (14.55) | ||
| junior college | 503 | 93 (18.49) | ||
| undergraduate | 1927 | 306 (15.88) | ||
| Master’s degree candidate | 511 | 57 (11.15) | ||
| PhD Candidate | 6 | 0 (0.00) | ||
| Age | 19.277 | <0.01 | ||
| Under 30 years of age | 415 | 54 (13.01) | ||
| 31 - 40 | 1168 | 196 (16.78) | ||
| 41 - 50 | 760 | 142 (18.68) | ||
| 51 - 60 | 705 | 79 (11.21) | ||
| marital status | 11.470 | 0.003 | ||
| unmarried | 354 | 51 (14.41) | ||
| married | 2577 | 389 (15.10) | ||
| Other (divorced/widowed) | 117 | 31 (26.50) | ||
| Years of service | 24.781 | <0.01 | ||
| 5 years and below | 242 | 25 (10.33) | ||
| 5 - 10 years | 399 | 67 (16.79) | ||
| 10 - 15 years | 672 | 111 (16.52) | ||
| 15 - 20 years | 420 | 81 (19.29) | ||
| 20 - 25 years | 378 | 74 (19.58) | ||
| 25 - 30 years | 356 | 48 (13.48) | ||
| Over 30 years | 581 | 65 (11.19) | ||
| Income level | 14.832 | 0.011 | ||
| Up to 3000 yuan | 324 | 51 (15.74) | ||
| 3000 - 5000 yuan | 1036 | 187 (18.05) | ||
| RMB 5000 - 10,000 | 1470 | 209 (14.22) | ||
| 10,000 - 15,000 yuan | 170 | 15 (8.82) | ||
| 15,000 - 20,000 yuan | 19 | 2 (10.53) |
| Above 20,000 yuan | 29 | 7 (24.14) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Post level | 9.303 | 0.002 | ||
| Department level and below | 2109 | 354 (16.79) | ||
| Above department level | 939 | 117 (12.46) |
| Item | regression coefficient | Standard error | z | Wald χ2 | p | OR | OR 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| age group | 0.176 | 0.165 | 1.065 | 1.135 | 0.287 | 1.192 | 0.863 - 1.648 |
| Gender | −0.322 | 0.104 | −3.083 | 9.505 | 0.002 | 0.725 | 0.591 - 0.889 |
| marital status | 0.369 | 0.141 | 2.622 | 6.876 | 0.009 | 1.446 | 1.098 - 1.905 |
| education | −0.191 | 0.082 | −2.326 | 5.409 | 0.020 | 0.826 | 0.704 - 0.970 |
| Income | −0.059 | 0.062 | −0.953 | 0.909 | 0.340 | 0.943 | 0.835 - 1.064 |
| Post level | −0.267 | 0.160 | −1.671 | 2.791 | 0.095 | 0.766 | 0.560 - 1.047 |
| Years of service | −0.131 | 0.083 | −1.572 | 2.471 | 0.116 | 0.877 | 0.745 - 1.033 |
incidence of anxiety symptoms may be related to the level of regions and units.
3) Among all respondents, more than 36% reported having sleep problems, higher than the 25% reported by foreign research reports ( Morin & Benca, 2012 ), and higher than the insomnia rate of employees in Lanzhou region of China ( Xiao et al., 2022 ). Of the 471 people who were judged to be positive for anxiety symptoms, over 84% had sleep disorders. Sleep problems can lead to anxiety, while anxiety can also lead to sleep disorders ( Buysse, 2013 ). The two affect each other and form a vicious circle, suggesting that anxiety can be alleviated by improving sleep conditions.
4) The results of univariate analysis showed that the positive rate of anxiety symptoms in employees below the department level is higher than that above the department level; For young employees, the positive rate of anxiety symptoms increases with the growth of their age and working years. However, when they are over 50 years old and have worked for more than 25 years, the higher the age, the lower the positive rate of anxiety, indicating that ( Wang & Zhou, 2022 ) young employees may be more prone to anxiety emotions during the early stages of their work due to poor adaptation to professional roles, rising work levels, and starting to form new families ( Pu et al., 2021 ), It is suggested that young employees teams should pay attention to mental health and emotional counseling, improve their comprehensive abilities and job competencies as soon as possible, and help them better adapt to their job roles.
5) Logistic regression analysis showed that the main factors affecting the positive rate of anxiety symptoms were marriage, gender, and educational background. Unmarried, male, and high educational background were protective factors for anxiety symptoms. The positive rate of anxiety symptoms in women is higher than that in male, which may be related to the fact that women are more likely to be emotional than men and that society places greater family responsibilities on women; The positive rate of anxiety symptoms in divorced or widowed employees is higher than that in unmarried or married employees, suggesting that family social support can better alleviate anxiety; The positive rate of anxiety symptoms among employees with lower education levels is higher than that of those with higher education levels, which may be due to the fact that individuals with higher education levels tend to have higher psychological resilience ( Hao & Liang, 2015 ), When encountering stress and setbacks in work and life, there may be more channels to relieve stress and can quickly recover from negative psychological states ( Peng & Hao, 2020 ).
The incidence of anxiety symptoms among employees in Deyang City is higher than the national level. Divorced or widowed female employees with low educational background may be the key group to implement psychological intervention. Sleep problems can lead to anxiety, while anxiety can also lead to sleep disorders. The two interact and form a vicious circle, suggesting that improving sleep can alleviate anxiety among employees.
The survey object of this study is limited to in-service employees who undergo health examinations at a health management center in Deyang City. This population has a higher level of health concern, which may affect the incidence of anxiety symptoms. Further multicenter research can be conducted to obtain more authentic data, and solutions can be developed based on influencing factors to improve the mental health level of in-service employees.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
Xiang, R. F., Li, D., Wang, J., & Liu, X. Q. (2023). Current Situation of Anxiety Symptoms and Its Influencing Factors among 3048 Employees in Deyang City in 2022. Psychology, 14, 656- 665. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2023.144034