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Sense of control helps protect women from anxiety

Findings published in BMJ Open showed that a sense of coherence moderated the link between area deprivation and anxiety among women.

“This study takes a different approach to mental health. Up until now, most studies have looked at what makes someone prone to disease, and the risk factors for ill health,” Carol Brayne, MD, director of the Cambridge Institute of Public Health at University of Cambridge, said in a press release. “Instead of looking at risk factors for disease, we are looking at traits or strengths that we have within us that can help us maintain good mental health and overcome adversity.”

According to the researchers, prior research has shown that living in a deprived area significantly increases the risk for anxiety in women. In a large, U.K. population-based cohort study, Brayne and colleagues examined whether a sense of coherence buffered the effect of area deprivation on the risk for generalized anxiety disorder in women. The study included 10,183 women aged 40 years and older who completed a structured health and lifestyle questionnaire to determine past-year generalized anxiety disorder and sense of coherence from 1996 to 2000. Using census data, the investigators measured area deprivation.

Overall, 260 women (2.6%) had generalized anxiety disorder during the 7-year follow-up period. After adjustment, area deprivation was not significantly linked to anxiety among women with a strong sense of coherence (OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 0.77-2.17). Women with a weak sense of coherence, who lived in deprived areas were almost twice as likely to have generalized anxiety disorder than those who lived in more affluent communities (OR = 1.99; 95% CI, 1.37-2.91).

“This study sheds light on inner strengths or qualities that we may have which can protect us from anxiety when we're exposed to hardships, such as living in deprivation," Olivia Remes, PhD candidate, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, said in the release. “Fostering such strengths or traits may be useful for people who do not respond well to medication or other therapies for anxiety, and further research would be needed on this.” – by Savannah Demko

Disclosures: Remes has received a PhD studentship from the National Institute for Health Research.