TY - JOUR
T1 - Anxiety and Stress among American, Chinese, Italian, and Russian Emerging Adults
T2 - Does Uncertainty Avoidance Matter?
AU - Delvecchio, Elisa
AU - Cenci, Giulia
AU - Lis, Adriana
AU - Li, Jian Bin
AU - Vazsonyi, Alexander T.
AU - Nartova-Bochaver, Sofya
AU - Zadworna, Magdalena
AU - Mazzeschi, Claudia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Levels of anxiety and stress vary throughout the lifespan and across cultures. Uncertainty appears particularly relevant during emerging adulthood, thus potentially affecting both stress and anxiety. Uncertainty as a construct was identified by Hofstede (i.e., Uncertainty Avoidance Index, UAI), who defined it as the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and tend to avoid them. The UAI was considered as a means to understand cultures in addition to the “classic” distinction between collectivist and individualistic cultures. The present study compared levels of anxiety and stress in 1790 university students (18–21 years old) from two individualistic (Italy and the US) and two collectivistic (China and Russia) countries, with a consideration of country UAI levels. Results showed that country-level UAI scores were associated with levels of anxiety and stress, controlling for age and sex. Italian and Russian students reported greater anxiety than American and Chinese ones. Chinese emerging adults reported the lowest stress levels, followed by American, Italian, and Russian students. The study findings provide initial evidence that anxiety and stress in emerging adults are associated with how a culture deals with perceived instability and uncertainty about the future.
AB - Levels of anxiety and stress vary throughout the lifespan and across cultures. Uncertainty appears particularly relevant during emerging adulthood, thus potentially affecting both stress and anxiety. Uncertainty as a construct was identified by Hofstede (i.e., Uncertainty Avoidance Index, UAI), who defined it as the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and tend to avoid them. The UAI was considered as a means to understand cultures in addition to the “classic” distinction between collectivist and individualistic cultures. The present study compared levels of anxiety and stress in 1790 university students (18–21 years old) from two individualistic (Italy and the US) and two collectivistic (China and Russia) countries, with a consideration of country UAI levels. Results showed that country-level UAI scores were associated with levels of anxiety and stress, controlling for age and sex. Italian and Russian students reported greater anxiety than American and Chinese ones. Chinese emerging adults reported the lowest stress levels, followed by American, Italian, and Russian students. The study findings provide initial evidence that anxiety and stress in emerging adults are associated with how a culture deals with perceived instability and uncertainty about the future.
KW - anxiety
KW - cross-cultural
KW - emerging adulthood
KW - individualism/collectivism
KW - stress
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U2 - 10.3390/healthcare11243101
DO - 10.3390/healthcare11243101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85180521832
VL - 11
JO - Healthcare (Switzerland)
JF - Healthcare (Switzerland)
IS - 24
M1 - 3101
ER -