Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Age, Gender and Anxiety Among Nigerian Students

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, age, gender and anxiety among Nigerian students. A total of 322 participants (207 females, 115 males; ages 15–35, M = 22.33, SD = 4.583) were selected from secondary schools and higher institutions using availability and purposive sampling. Data were collected using the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (Zung, 1971) and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998), with age and gender recorded as demographic variables. A correlational design was employed, and data were analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS 27. Findings indicate that adverse childhood experiences show a moderate positive correlation with anxiety (r = .478* at p<.05), gender positively correlated with anxiety (r = .620* at p<.05). This emphasizing the influence of early-life experiences on students’ mental health.