Adults with less than a high school education are more than twice as likely as are those with high school degrees to have reported an anxiety disorder in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health’s 2008 to 2012 Mental Health Surveillance Study (MHSS), published June 2.
The data identified anxiety disorders in 13% of non–high school graduates vs. 5% of high school graduates. Adults with at least a college degree had the lowest rates of past year anxiety (4.3%). The MHSS estimated that approximately 13 million adults in the United States had at least one anxiety disorder within the past year.
“Although the MHSS results cannot be used to determine whether anxiety stopped people from finishing high school, having an anxiety disorder can lower the odds of graduating from high school and the odds of attending college,” the researchers wrote. The findings emphasize the need to support people with anxiety to help them remain in school and succeed, they added.
The findings were published in the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality Report. Read the full study here.