Overcrowding, Age and Gender Differences in the Manifestation ofudstate Anxiety among Undergraduate Students in a NigerianudPublic University

摘要

Most students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria have a hard time procuring adequate accommodation.udHence, they are usually left with the option of having to share a room with many people resulting inover-crowded hostels. This study sought to examine the effect of over-crowding, age and gender onudthe state anxiety levels of undergraduates in a Nigerian public university. 192 participants wereudselected from male and female students residing in the hostels and off-campus with age range of 16 –ud30 (mean age = 22.80; SD = 2.70). Average person per room was used to determine how crowded theudroom was and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory form Y – 1 (STAI – Y1) was administered on theudparticipants. A three-way ANOVA showed a non significant interaction effect between overcrowding,udage and gender on the manifestation of anxiety among university undergraduates, F(2, 180) = 2.22, pud= 0.11. The result also revealed a significant main effect of gender on the manifestation of stateudanxiety among undergraduates, F(1, 180) = 18.212, p = 0.00, where males manifested more anxiety than female undergraduates. There was also a significant interaction effect of overcrowding and genderudF(1, 180) = 5.67, p = 0.02. It was concluded that university undergraduates should be provided withudadequate accommodation in higher institutions they attend in order to reduce overcrowding and stateudanxiety among undergraduates.