CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Anxiety and depression are mental disorders affecting a wide percentage of the population,

and their severity is increased if the onset is at a younger age. These disorders not only

involve the affected individuals, but also their connections at work, their family and social

environments. Stress is frequently listed among the contributing factors to the development of

disorders such as depression and anxiety, and it has been described and studied in the

academic environment, often in adolescent girls. The importance of the construct anxiety in

human life is so important that in some cases it intervention have been reported in the lingual

domain of human being: a differentiation and edge that human being possesses as compared with

the other living species.

Researchers focused the assumed relationship between academic matters and anxiety with various

angles (Saket 2014) and tried to find out that how do gender habitat and different types of schools

may play role in generating anxiety among students? In another study Mohd & Atieq (2014) tried

to find out that how socio- economic status does contributes to cause anxiety among students.

However in both these studies researchers did not look into the possibility that how do anxiety

they reported in school settings was there due to ‘facilitating’ effects or ‘debilitating’ effects?

Many studies conducted in that context found noticeable relationship between the construct

anxiety and academic achievements. In one such study it was found that the anxiety can be

considered as major predictor so far as academic success is concerned. Another such study found

a marked impact of anxiety on academic achievements. ‘Under achievement’ and ‘Low

1
performance’ of students were also related with the construct anxiety the findings of Sing &

Thukra (2009) were also similar who found that negative and significant relationship exists

between anxiety and academic achievements.

Some researchers explored further analytical aspects related with the relationship of anxiety and

academic achievements in one such study it was found that subject those were in senior terms and

were familiar with the academic tests were less exposed to anxiety as compared with the ones

those were less familiar. Another study explored and found the difference between the personality

anxiety level and test anxiety level. A few studies in that context have been reported with

reference to comparison between races. A researcher has discussed some strategies those could

help to handle the relationship between anxiety and academic achievements in a positive way.

The present study has carried out a non-systematic narrative overview of the girls’ external stress,

performance and resources by conceptualizing them for understating the phenomenon of

“moderating effect of girls’ external resources on the girls’ stress and performance”. It has been

found that the girls’ external stress is a reaction of girls to the unwanted environment factors

furthermore the performance of girls is both tasks and non-task related. The girls’ stress negativity

affects the performance of girls by lowering the productivity of individual teacher and of

educational institution. The teachers’ resources act as moderator by minimizing negative effects of

stress. The educational institutions should focus on girls’ problems through understanding

teachers’ problems and also providing proper support to the teachers for dealing problems. On

other side the teachers by themselves should learn to adjust to the demands of teaching profession.

Together teachers, educational institutions and society as whole can ensure the success and

growth of educational institutions for the socio-economic development of a country.

2
Anxiety is part of people’s daily lives in the current fast-paced and ever – changing environment

all over the world. Within the education scene, stress has become a serious issue in recent years as

school principals attempt to cope with frequent changes in school management. Depression

emanating from increased demand from parents, employers and students “indiscipline has been on

the rise in the last few decades (Alizon, 2010). Stress in the Learning Process has also become a

focus for girls as they seek to support educators in their attempts to cope with work related stress.

Girls are the most valued assets of our country. They impart knowledge and skills to their children

, who after completion of their studies, join the different sectors of country and start contributing

towards the development of country’s economy. Once teachers develop such like symptoms then

their performance and satisfaction level is decreased and thus the overall productivity of

educational institution is suffered. Under this process certain factors like resources, both personal

as well as job resources buffer the negative effects of stress on the performance. These factors can

be termed as moderators. In same way certain other factors like individual personality traits also

intervene, which also slow the effect of stress on performance. The effects of resources and

personality traits have been studies by researchers in past for example (Bakker & Bal, 2010)

which shows that these factors act as moderators in the process of the effects of job stress on the

performance.

External stress significantly affects performance and service delivery of workers. Given the

important role that education plays in the society, coupled with the dynamic nature of the

education sector there has been an increased social pressure on the education system in general

and school administrators in particular. This influences their levels of stress. The word stress as

any circumstance that threatens or is perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby taxes

one’s coping abilities. Threat may be to immediate physical safety, long-range security, self-

3
esteem, reputation, peace of mind or many other things that one values. Walt (1996) defines stress

as the arousal of mind and body in response to demands made on them. Such demands may be

characterized by variable like threats or opportunities. The word stress tends to spark images to

traumatic crises. Stress is an everyday experience such as waiting on a bank line, having car

trouble, shopping for Christmas presents, staring at bills you cannot pay, dealing with employees

or employers. At a personal level stress can be related to depression, anxiety general mental

distress and symptoms such as heart disease, ulcers and chronic pain (Sauter and cooper, 1989).

The present study is about knowing the moderating effects of anxiety and adolescent performance.

For this purpose a non-systematic narrative review of related literature has been carried out. A

non-systematic narrative review methodology was adopted as it is less structured and give more

freedom in gathering information on any topic of discussion (kumar, 2005). Moreover, it is one of

the basic qualitative techniques used for reviewing related literature.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The World Health Organization ([WHO], 2015) offers the definition of adolescence as “the period

in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood” and consider

this to be the period between the ages of 10 years to 19 years of age. Adolescents (aged from 10 to

19) account for approximately 17% of the world’s population (WHO, 2015). The sixth national

population census of Pakistan demonstrated that 39.2% of the total population were adolescents

(Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of Pakistan, 2015). It is therefore worthwhile to

undertake research to protect such a large population of adolescents.

4
Adolescence is an essential human developmental stage, during which biological, psychological,

and social development occur. Such changes and challenges during this developmental stage can

result in mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, which are common in adolescence

and have been found to have profound effects throughout adulthood (Patton & Viner, 2007).

Depression and anxiety have been recognized by the WHO (2014b) as two major mental health

problems, which usually begin during adolescence. Therefore, it is important to identify the

reasons behind these mental health issues among adolescents for further interventions.

Depression is a common disorder that impacts an individual's ability to perform life activities,

including those required by the workplace. Academic performance can be viewed as a direct

parallel to workforce performance, with students belonging to a unique set of individuals whose

ability to perform can be measured on criteria applied by an observer and by self-report. While the

prevalence of depression for this group is high and preparation for entry into the workplace is

critical for these individuals, this relationship has not been adequately investigated.

Adolescent girls have been found to have high prevalence of mental health problems across the

country. Baluchistan had limited resources for mental health treatment, counseling or alternative

interventions to help students and manage their level of depression, stress and academic anxiety

(Pandey, 2016). There have been few mental health studies found in regional context; so to bridge

the gap and find out the relationship among anxiety, depression, and stress with academic

achievement.

Many factors influenced girls’ academic performance. Literature have documented a number of

inputs that have impact on students’ academic achievement these include classroom environment

(Sharma, Mitra & Jha, 2014), teacher support (Sharma, 2014). Certain characteristics of the

students and their family are also important, including parents education (Sharma & Jha, 2016),

5
locale and sex (Sharma, 2016). Present study focusing on another aspect that influence academic

achievement i.e. anxiety, stress and depression. Literature predicts negative association of

depression, and anxiety on academic achievement.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Undoubtedly, stress has become the number one reported impediment to academic performance, as

adult girls now report being stressed out than ever. The New York University Publication continued its

affirmation that, 55% of girls claimed their biggest stressor to be academic in nature. 6 in 10 college

students report having felt so stressed they couldn’t get their studies done on one or more occasions. .

[Retrieved on 11 Apr 2016]. Additionally, many of the emotional and physical symptoms that occur

commonly in the student population, such as headaches, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and the inability

to cope, can be attributed to or exacerbated by stress (Dusselier et al 2005).

Considering the findings above, the research is intended to address the following questions.

1. The need of guidance and counseling services among adult girls at secondary level?

2. In your view should stress awareness be taught to adult girls?

3. How do girls feel when they are depressed?

1.3 GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The goal of this thesis is to identify factors causing stress among Adolescent girls

6
1.3.1 Specific Objectives of the Study

In order to meet the general objective (aim), the study will focus on the following specific

objectives:

1. To identify the causes of anxiety among adult girls.

2. To identify specific areas of anxiety in girls life.

3. To identify techniques to deal with anxiety

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The organization of proper anxiety awareness is highly desirable in both government and private

sector schools. Awareness in the school is chiefly concerned with meeting the physical, social,

emotional and educational needs of the children. Its purpose is to help each child make

satisfactory adjustment to life, both in school and society. Guidance and counseling help to ensure

that they are prepared to become the next generation workers and leaders. Every student needs

support, guidance and opportunities during adolescence, a time of rapid growth and change.

Adolescents face unique and diverse challenges both personally and developmentally, that impact

academic achievement.

The outcome of the study will provide the basis for enhancing the general adoption of a new,
positive approach to student life, thereby, ensuring academic success.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Anxiety and depression are linked to lower academic performance. It is proposed that academic

performance is reduced in young people with high levels of anxiety or depression as a function of

7
increased test-specific worry that impinges on working memory central executive processes.

Participants were typically developing children (12 to 13-years-old) from two UK schools. The

study investigated the relationship between negative affect, worry, working memory, and

academic performance using self-report questionnaires, school administered academic test data,

and a battery of computerized working memory tasks. Higher levels of anxiety and depression

were associated with lower academic performance. There was support for a mediation hypothesis,

where worry and central executive processes mediated the link between negative affect and

academic performance. Further studies should test these hypotheses in larger longitudinal

samples. Implications for school psychology practice and interventions in schools are discussed.

8
CHAPTER # 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Anxiety “is a chain reaction in the brain the start with a stressful stimulus and ends with the

release of chemicals that cause a racing heart, fast breathing and energies mussels, among other

things also known as the fight of light responses” (Layton 2016). Depression is a common aspect

of human emotion that is sentenced in our nervous sys-tem. Anxiety is a result of instinct in

human that responses to sensed danger or unsafe. It protects and alert us to an impending danger

and that’s help to prepare for this danger. It is a natural aspect of humans and in some cases it very

good because it can be a warning or a signal that cautions us to be very careful. However, it is and

can be extremely dangerous to the life of a person. Fear can be mild or intense and it can be short

term or last longer.

Anxiety is a reality of our everyday life. At the point when individuals search for help, they are

regularly managing conditions, circumstances, and stressors in their life that leave them feeling

emotionally and physically troubled. Countless people feel that they have very little resources or

assistances to deal with the high levels of stress they are experiencing. Circumstances that trigger

stress are known as stressors. According to Stress is not only negative things that happens positive

things also cause stress. In our life we only know stress to be bad but that’s not the cases. There

are two types of stressors which is the positive stressors which is known as eustress and negative

stressors which is also known as distress (Centre 2010, Davidson 2001).

Language proficiency may have a profound effect on an individual's ability to learn and develop,

due to its key role in the transmission of information and regulation of cognitive processes.

9
Language is one factor that has so much influence on the life of a student. Language is the only

means to communicate freely, so if students are having issues understanding the language been

used in the academic process it becomes a big challenge to them and they will eventually start

thinking about it. Once this happens they become frustrated and stressed up when even they have

communicated and at the long run affects their performance (Binder & Smith 2013).

Ability to manage stress is really an important issue when it comes to the topic if stress. Due to

this, the Clinic community health center has laid down some stress relieving techniques which

help a lot especially students to enable them to manage their stress issues. There are some

techniques and ways that can help reduce stress and stop you being stressed up (Centre 2010;

Hiriyappa 2012).

It takes an effort to maintain your concentration and to bring it back to the present moment when

your mind wanders or you start to drift off. But with regular practice, mindfulness strengthens the

areas of the brain associated with joy and relaxation. Mindfulness provides a potentially powerful

antidote to the common causes of daily stress such as time pressure, distraction, agitation, and

interpersonal conflicts (Clinic Community Health Centre, January 2010).

Another way which is easy to practice and do is deep breathing. Deep breathing releases tension

from the body and clears the mind, improving both physical and mental wellness. We tend to

breathe shallowly or even hold our breath when we are feeling anxious. Sometimes we are not

even aware of it. Shallow breathing limits your oxygen intake and adds further stress to your

body. Breathing exercises can help to reduce this stress.The key to deep breathing is to breathe

deeply from the abdomen, getting as much air as possible into your lungs. When you take deep

10
breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more

oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. This kind

of breathing is called diaphragmatic breathing. It means to breathe from the depths of your belly,

rather than from your chest and nose

Furthermore, body scanning is also another good way of managing stress. Body scanning

promotes mindfulness by focusing your attention on various parts of your body. Like progressive

muscle relaxation, you can start with your feet and work your way up. However, instead of

tensing and relaxing your muscles, you simply focus on the way each part of your body feels,

noticing any sensations without labelling then as “good or bad”. (Clinic Community Health

Centre, January 2010).

2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In his article, Njagi (2013), quotes a teacher, Melania who describes education as a process. She is

quoted as saying education “is a system of passing on and acquiring knowledge, experience,

values and skills. It is a lifelong process”. In distinguishing between African indigenous education

system and the modern European system she says that African indigenous education was informal

but integrated and comprehensive. Its concern was character formation and dissemination of

holistic values, while the modern education system is about memory and passing examinations

with less emphasis for character and unique value formation.

Periods for examinations causes so much stress in students than one can imagine. Examination is

the only means for a student to prove that he deserves a better grade for a course and due to these

11
students think a lot and also revise everything they have learnt during the whole period of the

cause, in doing so, some students get confused about some topics they treated and others also

don't know where to begin their studies from. The thought of these stuff makes them frustrated

and confused which at the long run stress them up.

Relationship or Relations on its own is a broad topic that can be discussed and it has had a lot of

effect on most aspects of a life of individuals. The term relationship talks about how people are

connected and the connection can be through blood, marriage, adoption and other legal ways like

neutralization for a country and registration. This bond that is created between people can at times

turn to be a burden on them and others to turn out to be victims of relationship abuse.

The study sought to determine how secondary school head teachers’ administrative factors

influence performance in the science subjects in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education

(KCSE) examinations in Eldoret Municipality, Kenya. Stratified random sampling was used to

draw a sample of 14 head teachers, 56 teachers and 308 Form Three students. Stratification was

based on the schools’ performance in KCSE science subjects for the period 2001-2005 to obtain 7

schools in the low performing schools and 7 schools from the high performing schools. The

purpose of the study was to establish if leadership factors (leadership styles, supervision, decision-

making and delegation were among factors that influence performance in science subjects. The

study was significant as performance in science subjects in Eldoret Municipality has been poor for

a long time, hence the need to find out the causes. Data was collected using three questionnaires

administered to the head teachers, teachers and students. Descriptive statistics were used to

analyze and summarize the data. Test was used to test for significant differences between means

of low performing and high performing schools. Correlation was used to show relationships

between performance and the research variables. Majority of the head teachers were found to be

12
fully qualified, experienced and practicing participative leadership. However, a few in the low

performing schools were reported to employ dictatorial leadership styles.

The effect of the leadership style was not as significant predictor of performance in sciences at

KCSE as the correlation between leadership and performance was not very significant. It was

recommended that there should be more and frequent in-servicing of both head teachers and

teachers on ways of inspiring and enhancing the teaching/learning of science. The study should

help Quality Assurance and Standard Officers in advising heads of schools and teachers on

leadership styles and teaching methods respectively to improve performance, not only in sciences,

but also in all the other subjects.

Importance of the study to scholars, readers and the general public lies in the fact that science is

the foundation of industrial, technological and economic development. Hence the need for

awareness of factors that affect performance in science, including leadership qualities and

characteristics, in order to prevent or find means of alleviating poor performance.

Relationship abuse is an example of oppressive and coercive practices used to keep up force and

control over a previous or current cost accomplice. Abuse can be enthusiastic, money related,

sexual or physical and can incorporate dangers, seclusion, and terrorizing. Abuse has a tendency

to raise after some time. All these relationship issues can be in the form of change in a

relationship, conflicts with a roommate, working with people you don't know, contact with

strangers and family problems. The student turns to stress up to about these issues and begins to

think a lot about ways to solve them which leads to them being distracted or having divided

attention from academic work. In view of this relationships might look very simple and easy but at

the long run, they really cause so much stress than one can imagine especially in the life of

students.

13
Anxiety and Academic Achievement

The first clear definition of Anxiety was coined by Selye (1956), as “the common denominator of

all adaptive reactions in the body” and the events that naturally produce stress are named as

“stressors”. A stressor is the stimulus for stress, and the body’s responses to the stressor includes

the stress reaction and other responses, such as physical adaptations (Tachè & Selye, 1985). Apart

from physical stimulus, every single life event could cause different levels of stress that could

trigger a stress reaction (Akram & Khan, 2012; Dow, 2014; Joëls, Pu, Wiegert, Oitzl, & Krugers,

2006). Selye (1985) claimed that stressors could be things other than natural physical stimuli, such

as emotions (happy, fear, anger, etc.). Aldwin (2007) also summarized that the stressor (or trigger)

could be external or internal, including environmental, physical, and psychological factors. That

is, stress is an individual’s response to both physiological and psychological stressors .

Anxiety is necessary and inevitable for individuals, while their responses and outcomes to stress

are different (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Even though individuals may face a similar stressor, the

reaction and adaption process could be very different, and may result from differences in coping

methods and thresholds for stress (Eriksen & Ursin, 2002; Korte, Koolhaas, Wingfield, &

McEwen, 2005). Therefore, individuals experience different levels of perceived stress.

Adolescent stress

Adolescents, who are in a vital period of development and transition, both physically and

psychologically, may experience high levels of stress. The WHO (2015) defined the age interval

14
for adolescences as 10 to 19 years. Stress during adolescence has been demonstrated to be related

to the presence of mental health difficulties, such as depression and anxiety symptoms (Feld &

Shusterman, 2015; Siddique & D'Arcy, 1984), suicidal thoughts and behavior (Wilburn & Smith,

2005; Zhang, Wang, Xia, Liu, & Jung, 2012), and health risk behaviors, such as smoking,

drinking, and drug use (Finkelstein, Kubzansky, & Goodman, 2006).

In addition to these issues, adolescents can experience problems related to their daily life events

and academic difficulties. Byrne, Davenport, and Mazanov (2007) summarized adolescents’

stressors into ten dimensions, which included romantic relationships, home life, uncertainty about

the future, the presence of emerging adult responsibility, financial pressures, and four other

factors related to academic events. The four categories related to academic events were school

performance, school attendance, conflict between homework and leisure, and teacher interaction

(Byrne et al., 2007). Similar to a cross-sectional survey in America, the main source of stress for

adolescents is believed to be academic related problems (Menon, 2013).

15
CHAPTER # 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

The present study was conducted to find that how anxiety does relate with academic

achievements. A sample of 150 girls studying in various colleges selected on the bases on ‘high

achievers’ and ‘low achievers’ so far as their academic achievement of the current year was

concerned. After selection, low achievers and high achievers were interviewed and 5 structured

questions were asked from them during the interview. These questions were about their

experiences of anxiety before and during the examination. During the interview all the subjects

were informed that interview contains nothing personal and it is just for the research purpose so

all of them can frankly narrate what they exactly felt during recent examinations.

Furthermore this chapter of the thesis deals with the population as well as the sampling technique

and the sample size. Instruments for data collection were all discussed under this chapter. Also the

chapter took a closer look at the way data collected were treated or analyzed.

16
3.2 Population of the study

A Population is the complete set of individuals, objects or scores that on investigation is interested

in studying. Basically, the population refers to the entire collection of all observation of study. For

the purpose of this study, the populations are both international and non-border students of

Applied Sciences, also in other to have balance gender equality both male and female will be

considered in this study.

3.3 Research Design

In the present study exploratory type of research design will be followed, which will be

quantitative in nature. The main focus of this study is to identify the causes of stress on students’

academic success and its management on adult girls of Applied Sciences. This will enable the

researchers to collect relevant data, work effectively and have a deeper understanding the causes

of stress on students’ academic success and its management on adult girls of Applied Sciences.

3.4 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

According to Creswell (2013. xxiv), a quantitative method involves data collection, analyzing,

interpreting and putting the results of the study down. Factors like population. Sample and design

are guided tools in this approach. Peculiar methods are available in both survey and experimental

research that direct bearing with the factors named above.

17
As a measure of anxiety and depression symptoms we used Zung Self-rating Anxiety score > 36,

respectively Zung Self-rating Depression Scale score > 40, in the periods before the examination

session, in the first semester (in no-stress conditions). As a measure of academic performance, we

have obtained the average grade at the end of the academic year from 254 of the total population

of 356 first and second year medical students.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

The study used survey research methodology. This survey aimed to study the impact of anxiety on

academic achievements of adult girls. The need could be determined through asking the opinions

of the principals of the secondary schools and students of class 1X and X of Girls secondary

schools Lahore. A separate questionnaire was administered to each category for collecting data.

This questionnaire focused on gathering the information about the role of guidance and counseling

services in their schools. The questionnaire in addition to the information mentioned above

attempted to explore the problems they faced in their schools, home and society. Students'

questionnaire also focused on identification of their needs, weak areas and their domestic,

personal and school related problems.

3.5.1 Population

The female secondary school students in Lahore were selected for this research.

18
3.5.2 Sampling

This study was based on convenient sampling; convenient sampling means the selection of that

part of population, which is assessable.

Govt. Lady Maclagon Girls Secondary School in Lahore was selected for sampling by

convenient sampling. Hundred secondary students were selected from that school.

3.5.3 QUESTIONNAIRE

The researchers will design a questionnaire with both opened and closed ended questions from the

area of research. The questionnaires were structured carefully to avoid respondents not getting

meaning of questions. Simple and easy words were therefore used so that respondents will easily

understand as well as answer them. Possible answers were provided to enable respondents tick

which ever answer they find suitable in terms of their response to the question. In all, total of 12

questions were given to be answered by the respondents which were the Finnish business students

and the international business students. A sample of the questionnaire can be referred to at the last

page of this thesis work.

3.5.4 PUBLISHED REPORTS

The researchers also took into consideration some reports that have been published already by

other researchers that have bearing on the topic of this study. Divers conclusions have been made

by researchers on various topics which were of importance to this research. The reports aided the

researcher to get some information for the research (Bernstein et al 2008)

19
CHAPTER # 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter is the analysis of the data obtain as response to the impact of anxiety on academic

achievements of adolescent girls. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics and

statistical analysis. For the descriptive statistical analysis, Pie charts, graphs, percentages and

frequency tables were used to represent the data, and to show respondents descriptive variables

such as age, sex, anxiety levels, triggers of anxiety, and academic achievement. Relationships

between variables were calculated by use of the Pearson Moment Correlations and Pearson Chi-

square (at 􀄮 =0.05). The p-value set for the test of hypothesis using Pearson correlation

coefficient and Spearman correlation coefficient was at 99% or 95% level of significance (two –

tailed statistical test). The computed P-values that were less than 1% probability level (P < .01) or

less than 5% probability level (P < .05) indicated that the null hypothesis was unlikely to be true.

So it was rejected, since there was a correlation between the variables being measured. Outcome

scores of tests were cross tabulated to establish relationships.

This chapter deals with the presentation and analyzed of data collected through

questionnaire from Govt. Lady Maclagon Girls Secondary School in Lahore. The questionnaire

was administered from secondary school students as the direct approach was adopted. All

20
the students returned the questionnaire with their opinion. The result of the Questionnaire

was analyzed in percentage method and presented in tabular form.

The researcher analyzed and interpreted the data objectively carefully. Responses to each

of 20 questions at secondary level in Questionnaire form. A convenient method was used

for data collection. 100 female students were taken for this research. Questionnaires were

selected form the entire respondent and data was analyzed through percentage method.

Table No: 1
Anxiety Awareness Department

Statement Y N
N% N%

1. You have any department for Anxiety awareness in your school. 75 25

2. Attention paid towards awareness in your school. 10 10 90 90

3. Qualified teachers available in your school. 80 80 20 20

4. You think that girls can solve their problems after getting

Career awareness 90 90 10 10

5. Girls are consulting their teacher’s other than academic

affairs / problems. 75 75 25 25

21
Table No:2

Discuss Problems & Character Counseling

Statement Y N
N% N%

1. You can discuss your problems with your teacher at any time. 75 75 25 25

2. You can discuss your problems with your teachers easily. 80 80 20 20

3. The teacher does try to improve his decision on the students during

their vocational counseling. 65 65 35 35

4. You think that you could be a good character if you have been

a provider character counseling. 100 100

22
RESULTS

4.1 Demographic information of participants

The research was carried out in 6 secondary schools out of which 3 were public schools, while the

other 3 were private schools. All the schools sampled were mixed day schools. The study sample

comprised of N=180 students (90 boys and 90 girls) and all of them from the form three (3)

classes. An analysis showed that, the respondents ranged between 16-20 years of age. The

sampled schools’ 6 head teachers and 12 of their teacher counselors were also sampled for the

study.

4.2.1 Analysis for Personality anxiety levels

All the 180 respondents took a 25-item Anxiety Personality Self-Evaluation Quiz. The exercise

required that they indicate their prevalent anxiety behavior when faced by certain life situations.

They did so by choosing the most preferred behavior from a range of a 5- point scale arranged in

ascending order from very low to very high anxiety. The 5 points were – 1. Never/no, 2. Rarely, 3.

Sometimes, 4. Frequently, 5. Always yes.

The results were discussed in three categories:

No anxiety to normal anxiety (0 -54%): According to the research findings, zero respondents were

found to be in this category. Being in this category would have implied that either one had no

23
anxiety at all or had an anxiety inclination mode did not negatively affect their performance

ability. Susceptible to anxiety (55 – 74%): The results indicated that 59 (32.78%) of respondents

were found to have been

in this category. The implication is that they were considered to have been experiencing a

presence of fairly high anxiety levels and were therefore susceptible to suffering some negative

effects of anxiety such as poor examination performance, lack concentration during lessons, and

poor attendance to assignments. This group would require seeking for help/counseling on anxiety

management and on anxiety prevention skills from teacher counselors and other sources.

Anxieties present (75-90%): The majority of the respondents – 115 (68.89%) of respondents were

recorded in this category. The implication for this category was that they were experiencing high

anxiety levels, a sign that the students were lacking in anxiety management skills. A further

implication is that if the situation were not arrested promptly the students were at a high risk of

developing certain anxiety disorders such as the general anxiety disorder (GAD).

Extremely high anxiety (above 90 -125%): A total of 6 respondents (3.33% of respondents) were

found to have been in this category. The implication is that they were experiencing extremely high

anxiety and were perhaps not functioning properly as students. Consequently, their academic

performance may be greatly harbored as a result of the anxiety. They were at a high risk of

developing anxiety disorders (GAD) or already had it at the time of taking the tests.

The respondents therefore needed urgent specialized anxiety management action plan.

This outcome slightly differs from what Gitome (2003) who cited Wambua (1980) meant when

she stated that students are sometimes anxious about academic performance and even though they

24
may not seek guidance and counseling on other issues they would go for the counselors help only

for the academics.

The results for the personality anxiety scores were further analyzed to show the three levels of

distribution and recorded by scores and their corresponding percentages as follows:

(i) susceptibility to anxiety =59 - (32.78%), (ii) anxiety present =115 - (63.89%) and (iii)

extremely high anxiety present = 6 - (3.33%). The analysis is shown in fig 1:

Fig.1: Distribution of personality anxiety scores

25
 Figure 2. Academic factors as source of Stress (N= 23).

From the data illustrated by the pie chart on environmental factors as source of anxiety, future

worries account for the highest percentage of anxiety to girls, thus 40% followed by lack of job

21% and then unrealistic expectations 15%. Girls are less affected by the divorce between parents

and the lack of computer and the percentage of the two is 2 %. Fear as an environmental factor

however causes a significant stress to girls which represent 10% of the total respondents. Bad

living condition is the 5th factor followed by girls being put in an unfamiliar situation.

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CHAPTER # 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 SUMMARY

The study investigated the relationship between anxiety levels and academic achievement among

students in selected secondary schools in Lang’ata district, Kenya. The findings revealed an

evidence of high personality anxiety levels (79%) in respondents. There was also in existence a

relatively low negative but significant relationship between test anxiety and academic

achievement. Thus students with high test anxiety are likely to be low academic achievers. Such a

relationship cannot be attributed to chance. There was also a significant gender differences in

experience of personality anxiety levels and girls tended to show more proneness to high anxiety

experience than boys did. Because of already highlighted limitations, the study recommends that,

future research could be looked into such as – background and Environmental contribution on

anxiety levels.

5.2 Conclusion

Due to the negative impact of stress on student’s life, such as ineffective studies, poor academic

performance and the general health status, putting effective measures in place is pertinent to their

academic success and general life. This is done by identifying the main causes of stress which

includes changes in lifestyle, increased workload, new responsibilities, and interpersonal

27
relationships and finding the appropriate remedy. A lot of research have been done on stress and it

management and pragmatic solutions given and we hope that, based on the analysis made, this

thesis will be of great help in helping students to have an excellent academic life.

5.3 Recommendation:

1. Management of the school should make room for stress management courses in the school

curriculum and also organizing stress management forum and campaign to help address

stress among students.

2. The student union in collaboration with the sport council and management should

organized games and social programs for students.

3. There should be frequent interaction between academic staffs and students on how best to

schedule intensive courses in the cause of the semester work.

4. Good eating habit should be priority of students in relation to stress management.

5. Enough sleep and exercise is an important remedy to stress management.

6. There should be a good balance between working hours and study hours so as to avoid

depression and anxiety

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