Comparing trait-state anxiety as well as positive and negative affect among obese and normal women (Ahvaz city, Iran, 2017)

  Obesity leads to a wide range of problems. Hence, this research was conducted to compare the trait-state anxiety as well as positive and negative affect in obese and normal women. This descriptive study was performed in eight sports clubs within the time period of 2017 to 2018 in Ahvaz. To do this, a sample of 200 women, who referred to sports clubs was selected by the convenience sampling method. The tools included the positive and negative affect scale and the Spielberg’s state-trait anxiety inventory. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 23), the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and the Pearson's correlation coefficient. According to the results, the multivariate analysis of variance at the level of P<0.001 showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the obese and normal women. The difference was in terms of trait anxiety (normal, 39.27±9.23; obese, 46.73±8.73), state anxiety (normal, 38.20±8.62; obese, 47.07±8.01), positive affect (normal, 42.15±6.12; obese, 38.40±7.69), and negative affect (normal, 23.35±5.98; obese, 30.12±7.04). In this study, the data analysis showed that negative affect and positive affect were different in the two groups. Moreover, the obese women had a higher negative attitude than the normal women. In addition, the results demonstrated that trait-state anxiety was different in obese and normal individuals. Our results indicate that obese people are more anxious than normal people.