An In-Depth Analysis Of Signs And Consequences Of Academic Stress On Students To Understand And Formulate Coping Strategies

CASIRJ Volume 6 Issue 8 [Year - 2015] ISSN 2319 – 9202
International Research Journal of Commerce Arts and Science
http://www.casirj.com Page 23
An in-depth analysis of signs and consequences of academic stress on
students to understand and formulate coping strategies
PRIYA OBHRAI
Assistant Professor, University of Delhi
D-220, Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024, India.
priyaobhrai@gmail.com
Introduction
Stress is a normal physical response to events that makes one feel threatened or disturbs our
balance in some way. It is an unpleasant psychological and physiological state caused due to
some internal or external demands that go beyond our capacity. Modern life is full of such
hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many children, stress is so common that it has
become a way of life. However, stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help students
perform better under pressure and motivate them to do their best. But when they’re constantly
running in an emergency mode, their mind and body pay the price. Many studies have shown
that stress kills the brain cells leaving the children depressed, anxious, fearful, immature, needy,
and unable to learn new behaviors.
Adolescence is a stage where transition occurs from childhood towards the adulthood. It is
generally defined as the period of life when a child develops into an adult generally seen during
12 to19 years. Adolescents today are experiencing enormous amount of stress, emotional and
psychological problems which affect their health. This period can be called as crucial stage of
human life with various problems. Adolescence is a crucial period of time wherein the onset of
psychological disorders may be fast. Stress mainly comes from academic test, interpersonal
relations, relationship problems, life changes, family factor, and career exploration. Such stress
may usually cause psychological, physical, and behavioral problems.
Stress in academic institutions can have both positive and negative consequences if not well
managed. However, it is important to the society that students should learn and obtain the
essential knowledge and skills in order to make them contribute positively to the development of
the nation form different aspects. Demanding academic pressure and limited social and personal
time can add to the normal stress of life and begin to have a negative effect on a person.

Academic stress refers to the pressure to perform well in final school examinations and
competitive examinations that is experienced commonly by class 11 and class 12 students.
Academic stress is due to examination system, burden of home work and attitude of parents and
teachers. For many students, academic stress leads to a sense of distress. Around exam time and
when exam results are expected to be announced, the academic stress has been seen to be very
high. These are times when suicidal tendencies are the highest and maximum cases of
depression, anxiety etc can be noticed. According to a survey titled “Depression among
Adolescents in Taipei Area”, the result showed that 56.7% of adolescents had depression due to
school stress and 44.3% of the depression was due their academic test. In today’s world
adolescents self identity includes one’s academic identity too. Academic stress has emerged as a
significant mental problem in recent years. It has been estimated that 10 to 30 percent students
experience stress that affect their academic performance, psychosocial adjustment along with
their overall emotional and physical well being. Information load, high expectation, academic
burden or pressure, limited opportunities, high competitiveness are some of the important
sources of stress which create tension, fear and anxiety.
Academic stress has been interpreted by many researchers in
the following way:
Academic stress is anything that imposes an extra demand on
a person's ability to cope, often with something that is new and
different in academics (Firman, 1992).
It is a type of stress that arises due to academic factors such as
heavy school schedule, unrealistic expectation and demands of
parents and teachers, low academic performance, poor study
habits and not having enough time to deal with school's multiple priorities (Banerjee, 2011).
Experience of school related stress such as poor academic performance, negative feedback from
parents and teachers about school work; daily hassles in the school environment, stressful life
events and negative affect states during school work were all leads to increase in depression
(Moreira & Furegato, 2013; Liu & Lu, 2012; Skipworth, 2011; Gray-Stanley et al., 2010;
Antonio et al., 2010; Bhasin, Sharma & Saini, 2010; Rao, 2008; Hamad, Fernald, Karlan &
Zinman, 2008).
Studies all over the world have also proved that many stresses like achievement stress, academic
stress, social stress, institutional stress, financial stress are negatively and significantly correlated
with academic achievement of adolescents. The more stresses the student had, poorer was his
performance. Poor academic performance, diminished peer popularity, attention difficulties,
depression, somatic complaints, substance abuse are common problems among the victims of
academic stress.

Academic pressure among adolescents is a major risk factor for poor mental health and suicide
and other harmful behaviors. The individual, family, school and peer influencing factors for
educational stress and its associations with adolescent mental health are not well understood yet
for which an in-depth investigation is continuing. It is important to identify and understand the
significant risk factors for educational stress. Educational stress has been observed to be the most
predictive variable for depression.
In a 2006 study, researchers at Arizona State University noted that long-term stress reduced
avenues for new learning and directly led to learning impairment. Studies have found that
children who are exposed to extremely stressful situations have significantly lower IQs than
children not exposed to such situations.
This physiological response of an organism can be measured by increased heart rate, elevated
blood pressure, and the presence of hormones and neurotransmitters (i.e., cortisol, adrenaline)
that heighten the arousal of an organism (Selye, 1993).However, in the long term, chronic
stimulation of the stress-response system has been linked to depressed immune functions (Stein
& Miller, 1993) and diminished life satisfaction (Evans, Bullinger, & Hygge, 1998).
Psychological models focus on the concept of perceived stress, which refers to interactions
between an environmental precipitant (external stress); the physiological reactions of the body
(distress); and a person’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to this interaction. Stress
is perceived when an external event causes aversive physiological and cognitive distress in an
individual which exceeds his or her emotional and behavioral.
Bisht (1989) has defined academic stress as a demand related to academics that tax or exceed the
available resources (internal or external) as cognitively appeared by the student involved.
According to her, academic stress reflects perception of individual’s academic frustration,
academic conflict, academic pressure and academic anxiety. She has given the definition of four
components of academic stress as follows:
 Academic Frustration :- Academic frustration is a state caused by harm of some academic
goals.
 Academic Conflict :- Academic Conflict is the result of two or more qualities in
compatible response tendencies to academic goals.
 Academic Pressure :- When the student is under heavy demands of time and energy to
meet academic goals.
 Academic Anxiety :- Apprehension of harm to some academic goals.
Many researches have shown that there are two types of factors that affect the students’
academic performance. These are internal and external classroom factors and these factors
strongly affect the students’ performance. Internal classroom factors includes students
competence in English, class schedules, class size, English text books, class test results, learning

facilities, homework, environment of the class, complexity of the course material, teachers role
in the class, technology used in the class and exams systems. External classroom factors include
extracurricular activities, family problems, work and financial, social and other problems.
Research studies shows that students’ performance depends on many factors such as learning
facilities, gender and age differences, etc. that can affect student performance.
Signs of Academic Stress:
 Abuse of stimulants: This could include drinking too much coffee or energy drinks, or
even the use of prescription medicine.
 Obsession with grades: There may be signs of extreme competitiveness, comparison of
grades amongst peers.
 Constantly working: Working hard is great, but when children do not have time for
relaxing or enjoying out with friends, it becomes a problem.
Causes of academic stress:
Research suggests that there are many causes of academic stress. In addition to the
developmental and biological challenges that are normative to adolescence, students in
academically challenging curriculum likely face additional normative stressors related to school
(e.g: increased workload) and daily hassles related to pressure to achieve.
Academic Stress for students comes from:
1. Handling the academic workload
2. Studying for tests and exams
3. Writing essays and assignments
4. Doing oral presentations
5. Meeting deadlines for academic assessment
6. Excessive workload
7. Attending classes
8. Amount of material to study
9. Getting good enough grades for graduate study
10.Contributing to class discussions
11.Achieving academic goals
12.Learning the academic material
13.High pressure periods, when lots of assessment is due

14.Group-work assignments
15.Fear of failure
Students generally report experiencing academic stress at predictable times with the greatest
sources of academic stress resulting from taking and studying for exams and the large amount of
content to master in a small amount of time. When stress is perceived negatively or becomes
excessive, students experience physical and psychological impairment.
These include; their own high academic expectations, parents’ expectations, teachers’
expectations and the expectation of the society.
Some of the above listed causes of Academic Stress have been explained below:
1) Own aspirations: Aspiration is an expression of the desire to achieve and improve. It’s a
level of motivation that overcomes task complexity with perpetual efforts and push one’s
to work toward those goals. Aspiration is operationally defined as scores obtained on
study Habit and attitude scale (Ansari, 1983).
2) Parental expectations: Since parents want to have the best for their children, they often
push their children into doing extra well in school for a better future. Parents often don't
understand that the school system has changed from their youth, and may even push their
own former aspirations onto their child. Parents believe that if their children are to go to a
good university, they have to give them early preparation. Pressures therefore are exerted
on the children early in life, and these continue throughout their school years until the
date they take the Entrance Exam and make a final decisive dash from a long race.
Parents have very high aspirations for their children and are willing to do anything to
have their wishes fulfilled. They are willing to spend a tremendous amount of time and
money to ensure that their children achieve academic success. They start saving money
when their children are still very young, and with their income, squeeze savings out of
food and clothing money over a period of many years. They spend hours in the evenings
and during the weekends to coach their children, giving up TV programs and holidays.
They hire high-priced tutors or send their children to extra classes after the normal school
days and during the weekends.
In return for these efforts, parents expect their children to obtain good scores in all kinds
of exams, in all subjects, throughout the school years. They use material as well as verbal
rewards to encourage good performance.
High performance expectations also lead parents to set unrealistically high standards for
their children. For example, parents may declare that in their opinion ninety percent out
of one hundred on an exam means only a pass.

In summary, parents hold high expectations for their children and are willing to sacrifice
for them. However, in return for their effort and sacrifices, they hold their children
responsible and accountable for high academic success and eventual admission into a
college or a university. Parents can be so obsessed with this that they are willing to place
excessive demands on their children regardless of the price.
3) Family Environment: Socio-economic factors like attendance in the class, family income,
and mother’s and father’s education, teacher-student ratio, presence of trained teacher in
school, sex of student and distance of school are also affected the performance of the
students. Results prove that home atmosphere influences academic achievement. Home
atmosphere should be conducive to academic performance. Parents who create home
atmosphere, which fosters learning have children who are academically inclined (White,
1982).
4) Extra Co-curricular activities: Parents hoping to raise rounded offspring enroll their
children in extra co-curricular activities exposing them to increased stress, researchers
have argued.
5) Exam pressure: Exam pressure is the feeling of anxiety or apprehension over one's
performance in the exams. It can lead to students being unable to perform to the best of
their abilities in exams.
6) Anxiety about the future: universities (especially competitive ones) are increasingly
difficult to get into, and it seems that a perfect GPA is the only way to ensure entrance
into a good college, thereby ensuring a good future.
7) Teacher’s attitude: Cramming and rote learning are the methods teachers use most often
in the classroom. Teachers require students to complete both the required and the optional

assignments in the textbooks and to do a great
amount of extra exercises drawn from other
textbooks. They demand that students not only be
able to recite certain subject matter, but also write
down the material without consulting textbooks. To
gain an advantage over other schools, teachers
often use textbooks that are prepared for a higher
grade. Thus, the knowledge that teachers want to
impart to students is complete, thorough, and
difficult, so that the students may excel in all
exams.
The high value placed on exam scores also affects teachers' attitude toward students.
Teachers tend to look down upon, complain about low scoring students. However,
teachers favor high-score students and often offer them extra help. Their high expectation
often results in high achievement among these students.
Consequences of academic stress on students:
a. Taking Medication: Learning is stressful and the modern-day education is important
because today future rides on performance. The need for anti-anxiety and anti-depressant
medications has thus become common trickling down from corporate executives to
children in pressure-cooker schools because failure is not only not an option but
perfection is often the goal.
b. Anxiety: Anxiety is defined as a condition of intense agitation, apprehension,
tension, fear and worry, occurring from a real or intuited threat of imminent
danger, which causes instantaneous mind-body reaction and its effects are felt
behaviorally, psychologically and physiologically, often at the same time. Students
feel uncertain about how to meet standards which creates a lot of anxiety in them.
c. Depression: Many are depressed because they are overwhelmed by the homework load
and the social interactions. Students don’t feel as if they measure up to everyone else,
even if they are good students.
d. Eating disorders: When we feel overwhelmed or out-of-control, we naturally try to find
ways to cope with these unpleasant feelings. For some students, binge-eating or
restricting calories become a way of dealing with the academic stress they suffer.
e. Aggressiveness: Some students who are stressed misbehave with each other.

f. Dissatisfaction: Due to academic stress, for many students the feeling of discontentment
and dissatisfaction creeps into their daily life.
g. Sleep loss: Studies have found that students who stay up late to learn for a test experience
more academic problems, and that learning the night before isn’t as effective as some
students might think. Sleep loss can feed back into the academic problems that a student
is having, but it also impacts how students interact with each other, thus perhaps
becoming part of a vicious cycle of exhaustion and still trying to perform well in school
and around peers.
h. Substance Abuse: Students engage in substance abuse to manage symptoms of anxiety
and/or depression. The inability to effectively cope with everyday academic stressors has
lead to the increase in adolescent substance abuse.
In 2010 and 2011, YoungMinds, a children’s mental health group, received 6,332 calls to its
helpline. Of these, 884 were from young people aged 16 and 17, and 39 per cent were about
school problems including exam stress.
Another study carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
found that academic worries were the biggest cause of stress for about 50 per cent of children.
“Exam pressure as with any type of stress can lead to mental illness if left unmanaged,” said
Clare Smart, a mental health consultant at LifeWorks Personal
Development Training Centre in Dubai.
“Pupils may withdraw from social and sports activities which are
actually vital in managing stress levels. In the worst cases, there have
been rare incidents of young people committing suicide when under
extreme stress with exams.”
During the time of year when exams, such as A Levels and GCSEs,
begin in earnest, Ms Smart notices a rise in teenagers seeking her
help.
High pressure has led to a decline in students' health for example; excessive use of the eyes
renders many students near-sighted. According to a 1988 national survey held in China on
students' physical development, 18% of the primary school students were near-sighted, so are
49% of the secondary school students, and 73% of college and university students. The trend is
on the increase every year (Jiang Naichiang, 1991).

In addition to exhaustion, other physical symptoms, including headaches and stomach problems
are also common in students experiencing academic pressure.
The psychological impact is also dismal. According to a survey among 459 university and
secondary school students by the Xi'an Medical University, at least 7% of the secondary school
students were recognized as having psychological problems. The figure rises to 20% if judged by
such expressed problems and symptoms as serious insomnia, memory loss, short attention span,
unstable moods, and disappointment towards life. These problems lead to deteriorating academic
performance and various kinds of misbehaviors.
Students' intellectual development is distorted too. Fierce competition leads to cheating
behaviors among students. They use all sorts of tricks to sneak notebooks, textbooks, and other
articles into the examination room. Poor students and top students, both are known to do the
same. Many schools tried very hard to stop this by changing the exam place, adding more
teachers to watch over the students, etc. Parents apply a significant amount of pressure for good
grades, not knowledge, which can also lead to cheating.
The stress these students feel not only compromises their learning experience, but also takes a
toll on their health and well-being.
Countries like India and South Korea place tremendous importance on exams, where education is
economic destiny.
Coping Strategies:
School counselors could provide help for pupils experiencing exam stress but in more severe
cases professional counseling or psychological therapy was the best option.
Doctors have urged parents to look out for warning signs which include declining academic
marks, social isolation, sleep or appetite disturbances, emotional outbursts and any substance use
or self-harm.
Dr Sihweil said primary prevention programmes in schools and parent workshops to heighten
awareness about teenage anxiety would lessen the problem.
Students often attempt to control and reduce their stress through, avoidance, religious and social
support, meditation and yoga.
The most common technique for high academic achievement is the skills of time management,
homework, get help when needed and build a relationship with the teachers, and reading. Time
management involves organizing school supplies, self-efficacy, control beliefs, anxiety and

aspirations and beliefs that maintain the behavior towards a particular goal (as cited in Creasey,
Jarvis & Knapcik, 2009).
Some of the other strategies that are likely to help students deal with academic pressure are:
 Once deadlines and exams dates are known, students can plan ahead their assignments.
This scheduling of the work can ease out their stress levels.
 Promotion of support system from peers, family members in learning communication
skills may help to enhance peer-relationship and friendship.
 Stress among students can be minimized by making study pattern easy, interactive
classroom sessions, less expectations from marks, minimize conflicts with friends, not to
compare with other students.
 Exercise and sports along with extracurricular activities should be encouraged to cope
with stress and depression.
 Students should be provided a psychological, social and academic counseling in order to
decrease stress.
 Career guidance should be given to frame their primary spheres of interest, to identify
long-range goals and prepare them for decision making.
 Family support is helpful for students facing stress, no matter how well they are
adaptable to the stress.
 Family members should try to understand their interests, specialties, and abilities so as to
avoid having too high expectations of them and causing them additional stress.
The following can help students to get a little relief from the academic stress they go through on
a daily basis:
 Sleep: taking a break from all the work, and making sure that one is always well rested.
Enough rest can boost ones mood and make one feel less harried and more prepared to
face the challenges.
 Relax: Scheduling regular time to do what one loves most- it could be reading,
exercising, hanging out with friends, and even watching TV!
 Speak to parents: If parents place too much pressure on the child, it is a good practice to
speak to them about it. If it's too difficult, and they always reject discussion before it
begins, writing them a letter (or an email), explaining everything you want to say also
helps. In this way the discussion will escalate into an argument!
 Speak to a guidance counselor: If one is struggling in school, one should speak to a
counselor who can help you approach your pressure in a healthier manner!
In general, the students must build a positive outlook and a confident self image.

Conclusion:
High aspiration, poor study habits, study problems, low socio-economic conditions are the
stressors/factors that influence academic stress. So the students should have the aspiration /
expectation about their study, not beyond their capacities and abilities. Students need proper
counseling while selecting their courses at intermediate level. The parents should consider the
child's interest and aptitude and not impose on selecting the courses. The family environment
should be congenial and the learning process should be made pleasurable and parents should
avoid making it as a stressful event for adolescents. Finally supportive and stimulating
atmosphere is very necessary for the students to progress in their academic life and for reaching
their aim or goal.
Mental illness should not be the price of an education or the 'perfect life'.
Academic pressure by the parents as
well as the children are themselves
tensed about their career and future,
when fail to cope up with the
situation or fail to satisfy their needs
then it results into stress and
depression. Adolescents are the
budding future of a nation and it is
imperative for the teachers, parents
and caregivers to understand the
factors which might be stressful to
adolescents and recognize ways to
help them cope up with such
situation.
A high stress level may affect not
only academic performances but also
all aspects of student health. The
stressors should be identified and discussed with individual students.
As stress in colleges cannot be eliminated, teachers can and should do a better job and provide
review of academics and exam schedules, more leisure time activities, between interaction with
the faculty and proper guidance, advisory services and peer counseling could do a lot to reduce
the stress. Interventions like reduction of stress, perceived by students approaching exam can be
planned while laying more emphasis on regular, day by day reading, mock examinations and use
of question banks could alleviate the fear and anxieties associated with the university
examinations.

Bibliography
Some of the sites used:
 http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm
 http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/5286-how-stress-affects-your-child.gs
 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culture-in-mind/201205/the-mental-health-costs-
academic-success
 http://www.challengesuccess.org/Portals/0/Docs/Educational-Leadership-Article-2009-12.pdf
 http://www.ijsr.in/upload/428127980Paper%20%2030.pdf
 http://www.uni.illinois.edu/og/features/2013/05/stressed-and-obsessed-part-5-effe
 http://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jnhs/papers/vol3-issue2/Version-4/E03242730.pdf
 http://jms.nonolympictimes.org/Articles/4.pdf
 http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/stress/academicpressure.html
 http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/09/academic-stress.aspx
 Others:
 Rao, Abha Subba. Academic Stress And Adolescent Distress: The Experiences Of 12th Standard
Students In Chennai, India. University of Arizona. 2008
 Mushtaq, Irfan & Khan, Shabana Nawaz. Factors Affecti g Stude ts’ Acade ic Performance.
Global Journal of Management and Business Research. Volume 12 Issue 9 Version 1.0 June
2012. Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA).
 Nandamuri, Purna Prabhakar & Ch Gowthami. Sources Of Academic Stress – A Study On
Management Students.

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