A study of factors that contribute to stress among high school students

Abstract

Abstract provided by author:

The study, therefore, examined school, social, personal/developmental and home aspects which might activate stress stimuli together with symptoms which students under stress might experience

The study used a cross-sectional survey combined with a correctional design that incorporated a host of inter-related research questions

A questionnaire was administered to a stratified sample of 360 students (108 hostel and 252 non-hostel) with an equal number of boys and girls in ech strata from five randomly selected high schools in Windhoek

The chi-square and factor analysis from the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to analyze descriptive data

The results obtained indicated that all developmental fields contained sources of stress for the students with school-related stressors as the greatest concern for the majority of students. Fifteen top stressors were identified across all the domains

Gender differences were evident throughout the study. Girls indicated higher levels of stress in their social world and boys and girls reported varying stress levels across the domains. There were no significant differences across the grades except with the stressors: being called names like "dummy", "stupid" or "lazy" by a teacher (X2=15. 867, p0. 05) and "too many learners in my class" (X2

Effects of stress on students' academic situation and life in general were varying from student to student in few instances, but in most cases there were similarities in the students'responses to the influences the stressors have on their lives. Effects of stress on school life were categorized under mental, behavioural, emotional and physical symptoms while the list of general consequences ranged from worry about things, realtionships that suffer, withdrawal, suicidal thoughts to acceptance of a stressful event

The major recommendations were based on the results and suggested the involvement of all stakeholders to investigate and where appropriate ameliorate the threatening situations and effects resulting from stress in the students' lives