The Relationship between Health-related Behavior and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Korean Adolescents

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate health-related behavioral factors associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).Methods: This study utilized secondary data from the 16th Adolescent Health Behavior Survey conducted in 2020. A chi-squared test (Rao-Scott <i>χ</i><sup>2</sup>-test) and complex design logistic regression analysis were conducted to analyze the differences and the factors associated with generalized anxiety disorder among adolescents. The statistical significance level was tested based on a <i>p</i>-value < 0.05. The GAD risk group was defined by a GAD-7 score of 10 or more points.Results: The study found statistically significant differences with an odds ratio of 1.08 (95% confidence interval, CI = 1.00-1.16) for those with experience of secondhand smoke at home, 1.16 (95% CI = 1.50-1.73) for those at potential risk of smartphone overdependence, 3.30 (95% CI = 2.86-3.82) for the high-risk group, 1.15 (95% CI = 1.04-1.27) for those with normal fatigue recovery from sleep, and 1.57 (95% CI = 1.43-1.73) for those with insufficient sleep, 2.14 (95% CI = 1.95-2.36) for those with subjective health status is moderate, 1.34 (95% CI = 1.25-1.45) for those with subjective health status is bad, 1.69 (95% CI = 1.29-2.21) for those with drug experience.Conclusions: This study confirmed that adolescents exposed to secondhand smoke at home, dependent on smartphones, and not recovering from fatigue through sleep, with poor subjective health status, and more likely they are to have drug experience were related to the risk group for generalized anxiety disorder.