The Relationship between Compulsions, Worry, and Academic Performance among United Arab Emirates University Students

Abstract

<p>The cognitive approaches of obsessive-compulsive disorder consider negative appraisal of beliefs and thoughts to be the core factor for the onset of this disorder. The present study was aimed at investigating the relationship between compulsions and worries (anxious thoughts), and between compulsions and academic performance in a sample of 461 university students aged between 18 and 30 years (mean age=21.2 years). Male participants represented 31.2% of the total sample while female participants represented 68.8% of the sample. The Anxious Thoughts Inventory and the Compulsion Checklist were administered. Results showed that worries were positively related to compulsions. Meta-worry was the strongest predictor of compulsions. First-degree relatives of individuals with history of obsessive-compulsive symptoms significantly reported more symptoms of compulsions compared to their counterparts. Academic performance (GPA) was not related to compulsion but it was related to worry. Further, older participants expressed less social worry and less compulsive symptoms compared to younger ones. The results were discussed in relation to relevant theoretical framework and in light of findings of previous studies. This study will provide researchers, practitioners and readers with an understanding of the relationship between worry, academic performance and compulsions in this part of the world.</p><strong><em>Keywords</em></strong>: Compulsions, Meta-worry, Social Worry, Health Worry, Academic Performance

The Impact of Worry on Academic Performance

“…The result failed to detect any significant gender differences in health worry and metaworry. This result is consistent with the findings of Hamid (2017) where age was found to be negatively associated with social worry but not with health worry or meta-worry. Barahmand (2008) also reported negative association between worry and age.…”

“…The Anxious Thoughts Inventorygauges three types of worry: social worry, health worry, and meta-worry. The Anxious Thoughts Inventory was used in a previous study in UAE and was found to be highly reliable (.89) (Hamid, 2017).In the present study, the inventory was subjected to factor analysis to extract the factors. The three original dimensions or factors of worry were replicated.Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the total worry was .89.…”

“…For example, Williams (1996) reported that women showed more heightened levels of worry compared to men, while Rana and Mahmood (2010) found no significant gender difference in the worry aspect of test anxiety scale. Regarding age, lower levels of worry were reported among older participants (Barahmand, 2008),particularly social worry (Hamid, 2017). High academic achiever was also found to be associated with moderate levels of test anxiety (Williams, 1996).…”