A Cusp Catastrophe Analysis of Anxiety Levels in Pre-University Students

This study analysed non-linear or discontinuous change using a catastrophe shift model on data collected on the anxiety levels of school leavers immediately before and immediately after they received offers of university places. It was proposed that students' anxiety levels were likely to be subject to rapid change from prearrival of university offers to postarrival offers. This is described, in catastrophe shift terms, as discontinuous or non-linear change and can be indicative of a change in state rather than a linear change in degree. Findings revealed significant differences in anxiety levels from prearrival offers to postarrival offers for preference groups l, 2, and 3, and bi-modality using ANOVA. However, analysis using cubic regression indicated that only preference groups 1 and 2 demonstrated significant non-linear change. These findings suggest that the use of cubic regression analysis to identify non-linear change might reveal more complex changes than that indicated by the use of ANOVA alone.