The relationships between quality of life and anxiety symptoms and the moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics in Taiwanese adolescents

Purpose To examine the associations of the seven domains of quality of life (QOL) on the Taiwanese Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adolescents (TQOLQA) with the severity of anxiety symptoms on the total Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-T) and the moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the association between QOL and anxiety symptoms among Taiwanese adolescents in the community. Methods A total of 5,322 adolescents completed the TQOLQA, MASC-T, and the questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics without omission. The associations of the QOL on the TQOLQA with the severity of anxiety symptoms on the total MASC-T and socio-demographic characteristics were examined using multiple regression analysis. The moderating effects of socio-demographic characteristics on the association between QOL and anxiety symptoms were also examined. Results After controlling for the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, more severe anxiety symptoms on the total MASC-T were significantly associated with poorer QOL in all seven domains of QOL on the TQOLQA. Meanwhile, socio-demographic characteristics had moderating effects on the associations between some domains of QOL and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Anxiety symptoms require intervention when developing strategies to improve the QOL of adolescents. Meanwhile, clinicians should take socio-demographic characteristics into consideration when working on QOL issues and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.