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. 2025 Mar 11;60(9):2189–2200. doi: 10.1007/s00127-025-02829-z

Table 3.

Symptoms of anxiety among adolescents in Bermuda as assessed by GAD-7

Variable Age Gender Race
All participants
(N = 2502)
Younger adolescents
(N = 1599)
Older adolescents
(N = 882)
Female
(N = 1297)
Male
(N = 1157)
Black
(N = 1095)
White
(N = 672)
Minority
(N = 726)
Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
 Mean score (± SD) 6.17 ± 5.62 5.87 ± 5.40 6.72 ± 5.98 7.56 ± 5.82 4.41 ± 4.72 6.20 ± 5.58 5.45 ± 5.31 6.80 ± 5.91
 Anxiety severity, n (%)
  None - Minimal 1201 (44.2) 794 (46.5) 395 (41.0) 480 (34.9) 710 (55.9) 510 (42.4) 365 (52.5) 321 (40.4)
  Mild 670 (24.7) 440 (25.8) 227 (23.5) 388 (28.2) 273 (21.5) 314 (26.1) 161 (23.2) 194 (24.4)
  Moderate 355 (13.1) 211 (12.4) 142 (14.7) 224 (16.3) 119 (9.4) 150 (12.5) 93 (13.4) 110 (13.8)
  Severe 276 (10.2) 154 (9.0) 118 (12.2) 205 (14.9) 55 (4.3) 121 (10.1) 53 (7.6) 101 (12.7)
  Missing 214 (7.9) 109 (6.4) 82 (8.5) 79 (5.7) 112 (8.8) 108 (9) 23 (3.3) 69 (8.7)
 Presence anxiety symptoms, n (%)
  Moderate to severe 631 (25.2) 365 (22.8) 260 (29.5) 429 (33.1) 174 (15.0) 271 (24.7) 146 (21.7) 211 (29.1)
 Moderate to severe symptoms with impairment, n (%)
  Any impairment 477 (19.1) 271 (16.9) 202 (22.9) 324 (25) 126 (10.9) 210 (19.2) 109 (16.2) 157 (21.6)
  Impairment in daily activities 325 (13) 171 (10.7) 152 (17.2) 220 (17) 84 (7.3) 150 (13.7) 76 (11.3) 99 (13.6)
  Impairment in school or work 371 (14.9) 199 (12.4) 168 (19.0) 261 (20.1) 87 (7.5) 155 (14.2) 84 (12.5) 131 (18)
  Impairment in relationships with peers 180 (7.2) 102 (6.4) 77 (8.7) 121 (9.3) 47 (4.1) 88 (8) 38 (5.7) 54 (7.4)

GAD-7 Anxiety severity according to total score: None: 0–4, Mild: 5–9, Moderate: 10–14, Severe: 15–21

Impairment was considered present when participants reported that their symptoms ‘often’ or ‘always’ interfered with their functioning

Younger adolescents: 10–14 year olds; Older adolescents: 15–18 year olds

Statistically significant effects are shown in bold

Older adolescents reported a higher prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, with and without any impairment, compared to younger adolescents (p < 0.001)

Female adolescents reported a higher prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, with and without any impairment, compared to male adolescents (p < 0.001)

Minority adolescents reported a higher prevalence of moderate to severe depression symptoms, with any impairment (p < 0.05) and without impairment (p < 0.001), compared to White adolescents