Impact Factors of Adolescent Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

Incidence rates of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have been on the rise in recent years, making it a growing public health problem among teenagers. In order to examine the main internal and external variables influencing the occurrence of teenage GAD, this study synthesizes the most recent research. Internal factors such as low self-esteem, diminished social self-efficacy, and poor emotion regulation are identified as central vulnerabilities that increase susceptibility to anxiety. For instance, low self-esteem mediates the impact of childhood trauma on anxiety symptoms, while social self-efficacy and adaptive emotion regulation strategies serve as protective buffers. However, outside variables serve as intensifiers and triggers. The incidence and duration of GAD are greatly influenced by a number of factors, including environmental stressors like bullying and excessive social media usage, family dynamics like parental over-worry and lack of emotional acceptance, and academic stress, especially uncertainty and competition pressure. Additionally, these outside variables frequently reinforce one another, increasing the likelihood of anxiety among teenagers. The results emphasize the need for early prevention and focused interventions that combine environmental-level tactics (e.g., lowering academic uncertainty, improving family acceptance, and putting anti-bullying policies into place) with individual-level support (e.g., emotion regulation training, self-esteem building). Together, these measures can mitigate the growing burden of adolescent GAD and promote long-term mental well-being.