Evaluation of anxiety among medical and engineering students by factor analysis

Abstract

Anxiety is an inevitable part of life in contemporary society. Anxiety corrupts a person's ability to think, perceive and learn. A person suffering from anxiety usually experiences difficulties in concentrating, remembering the learned material and establishing what the necessary relations among events or people are. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the main anxiety items of the students of two faculties. Factor analysis was performed to form groups of unrelated items by gathering related items in the scale and to rank factor affecting anxiety by their importance. In accordance with the data obtained from studies on the anxiety of engineering and medical students, factor analyses gave the following results for state anxiety: in engineering students there were units accumulated in 5 factors, in medical students there were units accumulated in 4 factors, and for trait anxiety they were in 6 factors for both. Our studies show that even if the STAI results are similar, factor analyses should be carried out and solutions should be sought in accordance with the results. During education in universities, causes of (state - trait) anxiety should be investigated and curriculums should be changed in order to lessen anxiety, psychological and social support units should be established and students should be prepared for the future.