Assess the Level of Stress among Adolescent School Children
M. Anandha kalyani1, Dr. N. Ganapathy2, Dr. P. Padmavathi3, Dr. C. Susila4
1Ph. D Scholar, Dhanvantri College of Nursing, Namakkal District
2MD., Da Chairman, Dhanvantri College of Nursing, Ganapathypuram, NO – 1 Ranganoor Road, Muniyappan kovil, Pallakkapalyam, Namakkal District – 637 303
3Principal, M.Sc (Nursing), Ph.D (N), Dhanvantri College of Nursing, Ganapathypuram, NO – 1 Ranganoor Road, Muniyappan kovil, Pallakkapalyam, Namakkal District – 637 303
4Research Advisory Committee, Principal, M.Sc (Nursing), Ph.D (N), Billorth College of Nursing, Chennai
*Corresponding Author Email: padmasekar2009@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Background: Stress level among children has been going up dangerously due to the pressure of their academic or cultural activities. Not all children can cope with such high levels of expectation and parents do not seem to realize or accept that their children are under severe pressure. Objectives: Assess level of stress among adolescent school children in a school at Nagercoil. Design: A descriptive study was adopted for the study. Setting: Bishop Arokiasamy Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil. Participants: 80 adolescent school children fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected by simple random sampling technique. Methods: All participants were given a questionnaire to complete; questions were related to Baseline Proforma of adolescents and structured questionnaire were given 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Results: The findings of the study reveal that 33% of adolescent school children are having no stress, 50% are having mild stress, 11 % of them are having moderate stress and 6% are suffering from severe stress. There was no significant association between the stress with their demographic variables like Age, gender, class, religion, place of residence, no of siblings, mothers education, fathers education, mothers occupation, fathers occupation and monthly income Conclusion: As the stress decrease the memory and increase the anxiety among adolescent
KEYWORDS: Stress, adolescents, School children.
INTRODUCTION:
“Adolescent period is a period of stress and storm.”
It is commonly said that the teenage years are the “best years of a person’s life”. Children are the beautiful buds waiting to sprinkle the world with their fragrance. They are sensitive to what happens around them and young children in particular can feel that it is their fault when things go wrong around them. Stress is the consequence of failure of an organism-human or animal to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, weather actual or imagined. It is a major health hazard of the modern world affecting all people especially the adolescents. Stress can provide the stimulus for the change and growth and in some respect some stress is positive and even necessary. However, too much stress can result in poor judgment, physical illness and inability to cope.
Stress exists from the change in an individual’s thinking and their lifestyle nowadays. Now, individuals have changed in their perceptions and the way they interpret this life. Students in their teens are the ones who are going through the transitional phase, which is an intermediate of childhood and adulthood. In order to stabilize these changes, the students are always confronted with problems and conflicts. For some students who are not capable of dealing with it, the changes will create stress and tension to them. If it is not dealt with in the early stages, the student may experience mental problems.
According to Zulkifli (1988), adolescents always face problems in adjusting. Teenagers especially those who are students always face learning problems, career management and also problems in solving personal and social matters. These are the factors that contribute to stress in life. Students are starting to shift from a life that is dependent on others to a life that needs them to release the dependency and start carrying their own responsibilities.
Stress level among children has been going up dangerously due to the pressure of their academic or cultural activities. Not all children can cope with such high levels of expectation and parents do not seem to realize or accept that their children are under severe pressure. Morris (1990) stated that high school students always face Academic stress in school and they compete with each other to get better grades. Fariza (2005) who conducted a research on the stress among high school students found that this age group has to deal with the academic world. Therefore there exists demand and hope for themselves, their parents, teachers and the society to see them succeed. The importance of this research is to help avoid stress from the beginning.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
A Descriptive Study To Assess The Level of Stress Among Adolescent School Children In Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu
OBJECTIVES:
· To assess the level of stress among adolescent school children
· To find out the association between level of stress among adolescent school children and selected demographic variables.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS:
Stress:
Stress is an uncomfortable subjective feeling felt by the higher secondary school children which makes changes in physical, mental, emotional adjustment or response assessed by Modified Stress Questionnaire.
Adolescents:
School Children with the age group of 13 to 17 years and studying in selected school of Kanya kumari district.
HYPOTHESES:
The level of significance at P< 0.05:
H1:
There will be significant association between level of stress among adolescent school children with selected demographic variables
DELIMITATIONS:
The study is limited to,
1. A study setting selected was Bishop Arokiasamy Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil
2. Adolescent girls who were present at the time of data collection.
3. Adolescent girls who were willingly participated in the study.
METHODOLOGY:
Research approach:
Research that explores the interrelationships among variables of interest without intervention on the part of the researcher is a descriptive study. In the present study, the investigator intended to assess the stress among school children.
Research design:
The research design selected for the present study was descriptive design. The present study attempts to assess the level of stress among adolescent school children.
Setting of the study:
The study was conducted in Bishop Arokiasamy Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil. It is a government aided Christian school run by Roman Catholic Diocese
Variables:
Dependent variable - Stress
Associate variable - Selected background factors
Population:
The target population for the present study was adolescent school children.
Sample:
The accessible population was the adolescent school children of age group 13-17 years in Bishop Arokiasamy Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil
Sampling Technique:
The simple random sampling was adopted to select the adolescent school children
Sample size:
The sample size was 80
Criteria for sample selection:
1. Children who were willing to participate in research study
2. Children who were available at the time of data collection
3. Children who were free of any morbidity
Method of data collection:
The researcher planned to collect the information from the research subjects by using structural questionnaire
Procedure for data collection and data analysis:
The data was collected from 80 samples selected through convenient sampling. Self administered questionnaire techniques were used to collect information. The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.
RESULTS:
Objective 1:
To assess the level of stress among adolescent school children. From the analysis it is found that the level of stress among adolescent school children was as follows. 33% of them have no stress, 50% are having moderate stress, 11% are having moderate stress and 6% are having severe stress
Figure 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent school children according to their level of stress
Table1: Association of level of stress among adolescent school children with selected demographic variables N=80
|
Variables |
No stress |
Mild stress |
Moderate stress |
Severe stress |
Chi square |
Df |
Level of significant |
||||
|
F |
% |
F |
% |
F |
% |
F |
% |
||||
|
Age in years |
|||||||||||
|
Thirteen |
5 |
6.3 |
5 |
6.3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
9 |
Significant |
|
Fourteen |
4 |
5 |
12 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Fifteen |
4 |
5 |
14 |
18 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
|||
|
Sixteen |
8 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Seventeen |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2.5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Gender of the student |
|||||||||||
|
Male |
17 |
21 |
18 |
23 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
Non Significant |
|
Female |
8 |
10 |
22 |
28 |
8 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Class of study |
|||||||||||
|
8th standard |
7 |
8.8 |
12 |
15 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
Non Significant |
|
9th standard |
4 |
5 |
11 |
14 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
10th standard |
5 |
6.3 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
11th standard |
9 |
11 |
8 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Religion |
|||||||||||
|
Hindu |
13 |
16 |
20 |
25 |
7 |
9 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
Non Significant |
|
Muslim |
5 |
6.3 |
8 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Christian |
7 |
8.8 |
12 |
15 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Others |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Place of Residence |
|||||||||||
|
Urban |
18 |
23 |
26 |
33 |
7 |
9 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
9 |
Non Significant |
|
Rural |
7 |
8.8 |
14 |
18 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Tribal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Others |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Type of Family |
|||||||||||
|
Nuclear |
16 |
20 |
26 |
33 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
24 |
12 |
Non Significant |
|
Joint |
8 |
10 |
12 |
15 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
Single parent |
1 |
1.3 |
1 |
1.3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Broken |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Extended |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
No. of Siblings |
|||||||||||
|
Single child |
2 |
2.5 |
6 |
7.5 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
12 |
12 |
Non Significant |
|
One |
18 |
23 |
27 |
34 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Two |
5 |
6.3 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Three |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3.8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
More than three |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Father's Education |
|||||||||||
|
Illiterate |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
21 |
Non Significant |
|
Primary School |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Elementary School |
2 |
2.5 |
2 |
2.5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
High School |
6 |
7.5 |
14 |
18 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Higher Secondary |
5 |
6.3 |
9 |
11 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Diploma |
5 |
6.3 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Graduate or Postgraduate |
6 |
7.5 |
11 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Profession or Honours |
1 |
1.3 |
1 |
1.3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Mother's Education |
|||||||||||
|
Illiterate |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
21 |
Non Significant |
|
Primary School |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Elementary School |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
High School |
9 |
11 |
10 |
13 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Higher Secondary |
5 |
6.3 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Diploma |
7 |
8.8 |
12 |
15 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Graduate or Postgraduate |
5 |
6.3 |
9 |
11 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
|||
|
Profession or Honours |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Father's Occupation |
|||||||||||
|
Unemployed |
2 |
2.5 |
1 |
1.3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
Non Significant |
|
Unskilled/Labour |
7 |
8.8 |
15 |
19 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Skilled/Self Employed |
10 |
13 |
16 |
20 |
6 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
Supervisor/medium level business |
5 |
6.3 |
9 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Professor/executive /business head |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Mother's Occpucation |
|||||||||||
|
Unemployed |
13 |
16 |
22 |
28 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
57 |
12 |
Significant |
|
Unskilled/Labour |
5 |
6.3 |
5 |
6.3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
Skilled/Self Employed |
5 |
6.3 |
9 |
11 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Supervisor/medium level business |
2 |
2.5 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Professor/executive /business head |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
Monthly income |
|||||||||||
|
≤10,000 |
14 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
14 |
15 |
Non Significant |
|
10,001-20,000 |
9 |
11 |
14 |
18 |
7 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
20,001-30,000 |
2 |
2.5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
30,001-40,000 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2.5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
40/001-50,000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
≥50,000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
Objective 2:
The chi square value of association between level of stress with demographic variables such as age and mother's occupation was significant with the table value. Therefore the hypothesis is accepted, whereas chi square values of other variables such as gender, class, religion, place of residence, type of family, no. of siblings, father's education, mother's education, father's occupation and family income are insignificant. Therefore the hypothesis is rejected.
CONCLUSION:
The study was conducted in Bishop Arokiasamy Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil with 80 study samples. The data was collected personally by the investigator by distributing self structured questionnaire to subjects. Data collected was tabulated and analyzed in terms of objectives of the study. The present study reveals that about 50% of the adolescent school children are having mild stress. 11% are having moderate stress and 6% are having severe stress
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The following recommendations are made on the basis of the findings of the present study
· A similar study can be done on a large sample for making broader generalizations
· A comparative study can be done to study stress among adolescents at different school
IMPLICATIONS IN NURSING:
Nurses should conduct frequent school health programmes to monitor level of stress among school children especially the adolescents. It is evident from this study that nearly 50% of adolescent school children are having mild stress. So they need continuous monitoring and guidance to prevent from getting severe stress.
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Received on 09.07.2017 Modified on 28.08.2017
Accepted on 21.11.2017 ©A&V Publications All right reserved
Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2018; 8(3):314-318.
DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2018.00062.9