#41-S anxiety on colombian children: Are more girls affected than boys?

PURPOSE: To compare by gender symptoms of anxiety in children living in Colombia SA, exposed to the stress of current civil war. METHODS: A total of 399 school-aged children/adolescents from a stratified, random sample of Belen, Boyaca and Bucaramanga, Santander were evaluated. Children and their parents were assessed with the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). RESULTS: The overall response rate was 97.6% consisting of 229 girls and 170 boys with a mean age of 12.7 years (range 8-18 years). Among all of children, 294 (73.68%) reported a total score of >25, which is the cut-off score for anxiety disorders. Of the girls, 201 (87.77%) had a total score of >25, and 93 (54.71%) of the boys had total scores of >25 (χ2 = 55.019, d.f. = 1, p < 0.0001) CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that these children, exposed to dangerous and violent situations in their environment, are experiencing higher levels of anxiety symptoms, which is particularly true for girls.