26

CHAPTER – II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Research in any field will be fruitful only when the research is aware
of the present studies. Research is, and should be, a continuous process in
any field of study. Research in education in particular has to be developed
and supported by an accumulation of previous study, so as to help the
virgin field of education to be professional on the scientific lines. A review
of related research is necessary for every research study. The required
insight into the problem can be developed as a result of survey of previous
research.

The review of related literature is an important aspect in any

research. Knowledge acquired through generation is well displayed in
books, which are arranged in libraries. Each new generation of human
beings makes use of accumulated knowledge as a foundation for building
up further knowledge. Hence, the study of literature is necessary in any
field of enquiry.

The literature provides ideas, theories explanation etc., valuable in

formulating the problems and methods of research appropriate to it. The
advantage of knowledge, which has accumulated in the past, is a result of
human endeavour. A careful review of the research journals, books,
dissertations and other sources of information on the problems to be
investigated are one of the important steps in planning of any research
work. In other words, research work begins in vacuum. The related
literature is worthwhile for an effective research.
 27

2.1 Stress

Stress is an interesting word. Most of the people have no difficulty

saying when they are under stress and attributing all problems to stress.
But Educationalists and Psychologists have considerable difficulty in
defining stress and have tended to avoid the concept, as it is too global.
Stress combines the external stimulus, the life events and the host of
individual responses to the stimulus, such as anxiety or depression.

Stress regulation in students is important for understanding the

development and prevention of psychopathology. Research evidence
suggests that cumulative life stress increases risk for emotional and
behavioural problems, such as negative views of the self, problematic
interpersonal relationships and stressful life experience. These
developmental costs of emotional distress then put students at risk for
further symptoms and lifetime difficulties.

Stress may be considered as any physical, chemical or emotional

factor that causes bodily or mental unrest and that may be a factor in
disease causation. Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress
include trauma, infections, toxins, illnesses and injuries of any sort.
Emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied. If stress
disrupts body balance and function, then is all stress bad? Not necessarily.
A mild degree of stress and strain can sometimes be beneficial. For
example, feeling mildly stressed when carrying out a project or assignment
often compels us to do a good job, focus better and work energetically.

Likewise, exercising can produce a temporary stress on some body

functions, but its health benefits are indisputable. It is only when stress is
 28

overwhelming or poorly managed, that its negative effects appear. We can

learn to manage stress so that we have control over our stress and its
effects on our physical and mental health. Creating enabling outdoor
environments support young children’s health, wellbeing, development and
learning.

2.1.1 Sources of Stress

Stress may be induced from different sources:

(i) Interpersonal issues causing Stress:- There are several

interpersonal situations causing stress. In close interpersonal
relations deep emotions are involved. Inherent to the ancient
Indian system of education has been its healthy teacher-student
bonding. But with the expansion of education, there seems to
be a change in the present scenario. Large class strength and
unrealistic workload on teachers in the schools in India are the
major causes of lack of healthy personal communication
between teachers and the students.

(ii) Personality related Stress:- the personality characteristics of an

individual to a large extent are responsible for appraising a
situation as stressful or otherwise (fear of failure, committing
mistakes). An individual’s value system is closely related to
feeling of guilt and feeling of ‘not being good enough’. The
change in the role of the Indian women, who is now ‘career-
centric’ is resulting in role conflict in marriages – a mismatch
between the career demands and traditional family values.
 29

(iii) Environmental Stress:- Living or working in an uncomfortable

physical environment may be stress inducing. Excessive noise,
heat, lack of ventilation, unhygienic surrounding, crowded or
an environment with strong smell or lack of light may cause
stress and lower work efficiency either in students or in
teachers. For instance, after a hectic drive in heavy traffic, one
may find it very difficult to immediately switch over to an
important presentation or lecture in the classroom.

(iv) Change induced Stress:- One major potential of ‘change’ to

induced stress is in the form of ‘fear of change’. The main
reason of change-induced stress is the fear of the unknown. In
teaching profession, ad hocism, transfer of job to a remote area
and many other unfamiliar aspects can be a cause of change-
induced stress. The best coping strategy is to move from the
unknown zone to the known zone.

(v) Stress caused by system issues:- ‘System’ refers to any

organization, family, school or other social enterprises in
which an individual functions. An average individual
distributes his time between these systems. The stress related
to ‘system’ has become highly relevant in Indian society in the
context of changing demands in the family and school. A
teacher has to do many duties relating to his profession as well
as to his family life. Especially, the female teachers come
under stress as a lot of extra work is expected from others.
 30

2.1.2 Coping with Stress

Coping is management of stress or it can be explained as a process

to overcome stressors i.e. demands made on an individual. According to
Lazarus (1974), in stress literature, the word coping has two connotations:
(i) It denotes the way of dealing with stress and (ii) The effort to master the
conditions of harm, threat or challenge when a routine or automatic
response is not readily available.

Whether the stressful experiences have negative physical and

psychological effects, depends upon the individual handling of the
situation or the use of coping strategy. Those who develop a general
resistance can withstand stress and cope effectively. Stress is important for
our survival. It affects the individual and the organisation too. Sometimes
it is stimulating and also beneficial. ‘Each individual needs a moderate
amount of stress to be alert and capable of functioning effectively in an
organisation’. It is only when stress becomes excessive that individuals
develop various symptoms of stress that can affect their performance and
health and even threaten their ability to cope with the environment. Coping
is considered as an important resource that can help individuals to maintain
psychological adaptation during a stressful episode.

Some measures which could prove beneficial in coping with stress

among the student-teachers are suggested below:

 Promote and share collective responsibility.

 Life security.
 Let each student-teacher justify his / her moral decisions.
 Expectations from the teachers/parents should not exceed the
available resources and material.
 Justifiable balance between the priorities.
 31

 Time management.
 Create the environment conductive to research.
 Develop a good sense of humour.
 Improve self-esteem.
 Develop effective communication.
 Forster a supportive and friendly circle.
 Developing the art of life satisfaction.
 Learning to accept responsibility.
 Managing through mental skills.
 Seeking social support.
 Exercising self-control.

2.2 Who is adolescent?

Adolescence marks intensive changes among the adolescent girls-

physically, physiologically, psychologically and sociologically. Society,
particularly Indian society, enforces them to act in a particular manner
through code of conduct.

A child is described as an adolescent when he achieves puberty, that

is, when he has become sexually mature to the point, where he is able to
reproduce his kind. He ceases to be an adolescent when he has acquired
maturity to play the role of an adult in his society or culture. Maturity as
the term used here, does not mean mere physical maturity, it also implies
mental, emotional and social maturity.

The word “adolescence” comes from the Latin word or verb

“adolescere” which means, “to grow”. So the essence of the word
adolescence is growth and it is in this sense that adolescence represents a
period of intensive growth and change in nearly all aspects of Child’s
 32

physical, mental, social and emotional life. It is a very crucial period of

one’s life. The growth achieved, the experience gained, responsibilities felt
and the relationships developed at this stage destine the complete future of
an individual. Since this is a very important stage of development to be
understood by the secondary and higher secondary school teachers.

We can think of adjustment as psychological survival in the same

way as biologist uses the term adaptation to describe physiological
survival. Adjustment is the process by which living organism maintains a
balance between its need and the circumstances that influence the
satisfaction of these needs. According to Gates, Jershid et al., (1978)
“Adjustment is a continual process by which a person varies his behaviour
to produce a more harmonious relationship between himself and his
environment”. Here are some universally accepted points about
adjustment.

1. Adjustment is a process that takes us to lead a happy and well-

contented life.

2. Adjustment helps us in keeping balance between our needs and the

capacity to meet these needs.

3. Adjustment persuades us to change our way of life according to the

demands of the situation.

4. Adjustment gives us strength and ability to bring desirable changes

in the conditions of our environment.
 33

Besides the demands of one basic need, society also demands a

particular mode of behaviour from members. Here adjustment also needs
one’s conformity to the requirement of one’s culture and the society. In
this way, adjustment does not only cater to one’s own needs but also to the
demands of the society. Therefore, in defining adjustment in its
comprehensive way, we can conclude that Adjustment is a condition or
state in which one feels that one’s needs have been (or will be) fulfilled
and one’s behaviour conforms to the requirements of a given culture.

2.3 Special Characteristics of Adolescence

No doubt, adjustment is a lifelong process starting from the birth of

the child. Though the home can develop many good habits, which may
help in the future adjustment of the child, the schools too have a pivotal
role in guiding the child. Moreover, there are many conditions in the
school, which may lead to the child’s maladjustment.

This adjustment is very important at adolescence age especially in

students, because they may suffer from one or many special characteristics.
Important among them are:

i) Perplexity with regard to Somatic variation.

ii) Intensification of self-awareness.

iii) Intensification of sex-consciousness.

iv) Independence Vs dependence.

v) Peer-group relationship.

vi) Idealism Vs realism.

vii) Vocational choice and need of self-support.

 34

2.4 Studies on Academic Stress

2.4.1 Sources and Causes of Academic Stress

The children of the third world countries are exposed to many

problems in their day-to-day life, which are the barriers to their
development. The child undergoes a lot of stress and strain within the
school and outside the school. Out of the number of stresses faced by late
adolescents and young adults, academic stress has emerged as a significant
mental health problem in the recent years. Anxiety about examinations is
due to high expectations and competating, fear of facing examinations and
high percentage of failure in school examinations. In the academic
institutions students live in the state of perpetual insecurity due to fear of
teachers and very often-conflicting expectations from the parents and the
society. The growing need for the competitiveness in school contributes to
tensions in the students and consequently they feel worried and frustrated.
A few studies on causes and sources of academic stress are presented.

Educational problems loom a large in the lives of adolescents. A

study reported by Jackson and Gatzel (1963) found that the major sources
of maladjustment in school were: (i) lack of intellectual ability to do the
work required, (ii) failure in socialization, (iii) personal maladjustment,
(iv) lack of parental or adult identification, (v) economic and cultural
deprivation, (vi) minority status and (vii) unfavourable social conditions.

The pioneering work of Dobson’s (1979) study showed that 60

percent of the students in the sixth form reported that being students and
preparing for an examination was causing them ‘a lot of stress’ or ‘extreme
stress’.
 35

Bisht (1980) studies the effect of school-climate and need for

academic achievement on the academic stress of students and found that
they did not affect academic stress independently, but their interaction was
statistically significant among the four components of academic stress-
frustration, conflict, pressure and anxiety.

Ippolitive (1980) studied on academic overloading of high school

students. When a student spent much time and effort on homework without
showing a corresponding level of academic performance, he/she was found
to be suffering from academic overload. The causes of this condition were
examined. It was suggested that the best remedy was to change the
student’s study habits with a view to increasing the generality and
applicability not only to one but also to a number of academic subjects.

In a study of the early and mid adolescents in England and in the

United States, West Charles et.al., (1982) found that the extent of
academic stress was the same in the two samples. The four factors of stress
that emerged were parental stress, place of studying, importance of school
and fear of failure. These factors were common among students from both
countries. In the peer stress factor the common variance for the US sample
was 33 percent, whereas for the English sample it was 22 percent. The
common variances for other factors were roughly equivalent. It was
concluded that the variables, social and individual differences were the
major contributing factors to academic stress.

Sears and Milburn (1983) in their book ‘Stress in Children and

Adolescents’ summarized typical stress among the school-age children. As
the main developmental task of this stage concerns schooling, many of the
stresses are school-related. School-related problems, in general are test
taking, school fears, for example, homework and fear of failure or success
including school phobia.
 36

Edmunds (1984) in a study on the need for assessment strategy for

black students reported that stress was due to financial difficulties and lack
of financial support. The factors of academic stress included writing term
papers, test anxiety, fear of failure, competition for grades, answering
essay questions, poor study skills and habits, excessive academic load and
concentration and memory.

Heins et.al., (1984) examined how medicine, law and graduate

students perceived stress and reported that the highest total stress score was
reported by the law students. Time and economic pressure were the prime
causes of stress followed by academic concerns. Law and chemistry
students reported less utilization of support services. Medical students felt
stress because of the lack of time spent at home, psychology students
because of money problems, chemistry students because of frequent
examinations and law students because of competition.

Seven factors were identified as the causes of stress among the

college students. They were: i) academic content, ii) inter personal
relationships, iii) financial security, iv) relocation and residence, v) recent
death of a family member, vi) sexual relationships and vii) academic
context (campus parking, dealing with the administrators and relations
with instruction). The most intense stressors perceived were academic and
monitory factors whereas relocation and present residence along with
interpersonal relationships and health were less stressful (Villanova and
Bownas, 1984).

In a survey of college students, Archer and Lamnin (1985)

identified tests, grade competition and lack of time as primary causes of
academic stressors, while intimate relationships, parent relationships and
finances ranked as causes of highest personal stressor.
 37

In a study carried out on college students at different educational

levels Whiteman et.al., (1985) explained why students perform badly
under stress, such as ‘hyper vigilance’ (i.e., over studying for an
examination) and ‘premature closure’ (i.e. rushing through an
examination). Situations that are stressful for undergraduates and for
graduates, law and medical students and residents are cited.

Kohn and Fragner (1986) feel that excessive homework, term

papers, examinations and studying for examinations are the most
significant factors that cause academic stress.

Astilla and Watkins (1986) tested the hypothesis that application of

pressure for better academic achievement from parents, teachers and peers
mediates the relationship between school grades from one year to the next,
using data from 411 Filipino students (aged 13-14 years). No support was
found for this predicted relation after both linear and various curve linear
regression models examined.

George et.al., (1987) examined the association between the

characteristics of dental students and their stress levels along with the
correlation of stress due to drug addiction and health problem. Greater
stress was associated with a higher level of Type-A behaviour and lower
level of career commitment.

Widey and Liechtenstein (1987) conducted a study on teachers. It

revealed that trauma in the family resulting in the separation or divorce of
a child’s parents caused the most severe symptoms of anxiety. Academic
tasks that students were unable to handle caused the next to most severe
symptoms of stress.
 38

In a study on ‘Search for stress profiles of Adolescent students’,

several features of Type – A behaviour emerged and the principle stressors
identified were school examinations, job aspirations, school work and
home work. Fear of the unexpected, exhaustion and lack of concentration
were quoted to be the most severe stress symptoms. Science students
appeared to be under greater stress than the Arts students (Thomas, 1987).

Pressure over academic grades, lack of time to accomplish personal

needs, concern over the future, the financial problems, the meaning and
purpose of life, the physical appearance and the job opportunities after
graduation were most often perceived as stressors among undergraduate
college students (Gray and Rotttmann, 1988).

Omizo et.al., (1988) investigates stressors and symptoms in

students. in the order of frequency, elementary students cited family
problems and school problems; junior school students cited general
adolescent problems, peer pressure and family problems; and high school
students cited the future, school problems and peer pressure. Students
identified psychological, physiological, behavioural and emotional
symptoms of stress.

Wagner and Compas (1990) examined the roles of gender,

instrumentality and expressivities as moderators of the relation between
stressful events and psychological symptoms in samples of junior high,
senior high and college students. Female adolescents in all the three
samples reported more overall negative events than did men. Women in
the junior and senior high samples reported more negative inter-personal
stressors than did men. However, there was no indication in the samples of
a stronger relation between negative events and psychological symptoms in
 39

adolescent women, family stressors in the junior high and peer stressors in
the college sample were most strongly related to psychological symptoms.
The differences in the type of stressors faced across the stages and the
increase in stressors faced by women are indicators of the developmental
nature of the experience of stressors and the possible difference in gender
in the perception of stressors.

Dubois, Felner, Brand and Evans (1992) in their study employed a

2-year longitudinal design to examine the relation of stressful life events
and social supports to psychological distress and school performance
among 166 early adolescents. Results showed that both stress and support
variables made significant contributions to the prediction of subsequent
psychological distress whereas, stress alone predicted the subsequent
school performance.

Sevenoaks Susson and Kent (1992) reported that handwriting

leaves a permanent record of hand movement and is frequently affected
and disrupted by stress from a variety of sources. Actual physical stress
can be caused by the act of writing; this may be the result of poor postural
strategies, exacerbated by the demand of speed and academic pressure.

Pukar, Lamb and Bartolovic (1993) surveyed 222 normal

adolescents in a rural high school. The students reported experiencing
stressful events related to school, family, friendship, health and
transportation. The study is important in view of the contribution towards
understanding the stressor faced by rural adolescents; however, lack of
standardized tools to measure it keeps the scope of the findings limited.
 40

Jones (1993) undertook a study to establish the existence of gender-

based differences in the perceived antecedents of academic stress. The
academic pressure scale for adolescents was administrated to 122 girls and
160 boys attending high school. Girls reported greater stress than boys.
This study provides strong evidence that girls and boys of high school age
experience different antecedents of academic stress.

Ramamalini (1993) in her study on academic stress and quality of

family support and intelligence in a selected group of high school girl
students reported no significant relationship between them. But a
significant correlation was found between academic stress and family
support.

Flanagan and Eceles (1993) studied the effect of change in parental

work status on early adolescents’ school adjustment before and after
transition to junior high school. Based on the pattern of change or stability
in parental work status during the two years of study, four groups were
compared – deprived, declaiming, recovering and stable. Results indicated
that adolescents in deprived and declaiming families were less competent
than their peers in stable or recovery families. Adolescents who
experienced a decline in work status were most disruptive while most
students had difficulty while adjusting to junior high school. The transition
was particularly difficult for those students whose parents were
simultaneously dealing with changes in work status.

Grant and Compas (1995) conducted a study on 55 adolescents in

the age range of 11 to 18 years. The diagnosis of cancer in a patient was
chosen as a specific stressful event associated with symptoms of anxiety
 41

and depression. Results indicated that girls reported more stress caused by
family responsibility than did boys and also showed higher occurrence of
anxious-depressed symptoms.

The study of school-related stress in children with and without

disabilities indicated that students without disabilities scored higher on
scales related to academic stress and academic self-concept. However, only
the inter-group differences at the high school level on the peer interactions
and academic stress scales were statistically significant (Helms, 1996).

Panda (1998) observed that the 9th and 10th class students coming
from small families were better in their level of academic stress than the
students living with the big families.

Jagannadhan (2003) reported that the birth order of V, VI and VII

class students does not have any significant influence on their level of
academic stress and achievement. Kumaraswami (2003) indicated that the
age of the adult students did not influence the academic stress in the
reading, writing, arithmetic as well as in total area.

Anice James and Marice (2004) investigated the influence of

academic stress on the achievement of the XI standard students and found
a significant difference between boys and girls. Girls performed better than
boys in their level of achievement and lowered in the level of academic
stress. Mohammad and Philip (2004) observed that girls academic stress
was higher than the boys academic stress.
 42

Vyas (2006) showed that age of the student- teachers of Teacher

Training Institutes (TTIs) have significant in their level of academic stress.
The higher the age of the student-teachers, the stress is lowered.

Chakrabarthy (2007) observed that educational level of the family

influenced the academic stress of the female students compared to the male
students. Jayachandra Naidu (2007) investigated that fathers’
occupations is not significantly influencing the level of the academic stress
of the students of non-formal learning. Mahapatra (2007) concluded in a
study that the regional background of the B.Ed. students did not have any
significant effect on the academic stress and teaching success.

Dharma Raja (2008) investigated that there was a significant

difference in the computer course achievement and the level of stress
between rural and urban higher secondary school students. He also found
that the rural students had exhibited higher level of stress in the course
compared to the urban locality students. He further found that extensive
use of the laboratory in the computers have lowered the level of academic
stress in a moderate way.

Ranamanikham and Vasanthal (2008) conducted a study on the

relationship between students academic stress and adjustment in relation to
their academic achievement. The findings are – (i) there was a significant
positive correlation between academic stress and academic achievement.
(ii) the scores of the students on their academic stress gradually increases
the qualification of the parents decreased. (iii) the different sibling groups
differed significantly on the level of stress. (iv) it was found that as the
number of siblings increased, the level of stress score increased.
 43

Naresh Kumar (2008) investigated in a study on the sources of

academic stress and their influence on the scholastic achievement that – (i)
the urban students were higher in their level of stress as compared to the
rural area students. (ii) the overall achievement is positively and
significantly associated with the level of scholastic achievement.

Moly Kuruvilla (2008) studied the influence of certain psycho-

sociological variables on the influence of the academic stress, overall
adjustment and scholastic achievement of college students and found that –
(i) there is a significant positive correlation between the gender and the
academic stress; boys had higher level stress compared to the girls (ii)
Science students suffered with higher level of stress compared to the Arts
and Commerce students. (iii) Academic Stress is significantly influencing
the level of the scholastic achievement.

Vamadevappa (2009) in a study revealed that there is a positive and

significant relationship between parental involvement and academic stress
among the higher secondary students. Good parental involvement leads to
higher academic stress. And the stress of girls is less than the boys among
the higher parental involvement group.

Nagaraju (2009) conducted a study on 224 students of class X and

reported that (i) the correlation between academic stress and anxiety is
positive and significant. (ii) the correlation between intelligence and stress
is negative and significant and (iii) the correlation between achievement
and stress is positive and significant.

2.4.2 Consequences of Academic Stress

Academic stress acquired importance because of its consequences.

Excessive stress produces not only psychological disturbances, but also
 44

several harmful effects on the bio-system. The antecedents of academic

stress may be internal or external.

In the preceding pages we have had an idea of some of the more

important and relevant antecedents. Now it is useful to attempt to
understand the biological and psychological consequences of academic
stress. Perhaps a certain degree of academic stress may be beneficial to the
student, in that it acts as a stimulant. Only beyond tolerance limits (which
may vary from student to student) does academic stress becomes inimical
to the system. We shall largely restrict our discussion to these ill effects.

Harris (1972) noticed a significant correlation between stressful

life-events and academic performance of college students. High levels of
stress have led to relatively poor grades.

Hoppock (1977) states that parents often feel that they must help
their children get good marks. Therefore, the parents themselves do most
of the assignments or compel their children to do them. If their child does
not reach the parent’s goal, parents as well as the child undergoes stress.
Dweck and Light (1980) reported that growing up under stressful and
frustrating conditions might be lead to the development of learned
helplessness.

Saxena (1978) examined the relationship between scholastic

achievement and adjustment of 350 male students. Students were identified
as over and under-achievers in four areas viz., Mathematics, Biology,
Commerce and the Arts. Students were administrated an adjustment
inventory with five categories (home, health, social, emotional and school
adjustment) and a total adjustment score. Under-achievers showed
significantly poorer adjustment in the home, health and school areas, as
 45

well as in the overall adjustment. The relationship between adjustment and

achievement was strongest for students in mathematics. In the arts group
no significant differences were found.

Aneshensal and Rosen (1978) present a path analytic model of

status expectations that focuses on how sex influences the educational
expectations of a large sample (3200 students) of American students.
While female and male expectations can be predicted by the same model
variables, the process is by no means identical for both sexes. Exogenous
background variables have gender effects on females than males. The same
sex parent was found to have a greater effect on adolescent expectations
than the opposite sex parent.

Greenberg (1980) reported that stress is a contributing factor in

causing numerous emotional and behavioural difficulties, including
depression, anxiety, temper tantrums, child abuse, physical assaults,
destructive expressions of anger, feelings of inadequacy or failure, feelings
of bitterness and resentment, irritability and impatience.

Seemanova and Marta (1981) studied anxiety and intellectual

abilities in relationship to progress in school by administrating the manifest
anxiety scale and test of intelligence structure to high school students and
by collecting data on their scholastic achievement. Findings show that
scholastic achievement in low-anxiety students depends mainly on their
level of intellectual abilities and this relationship was a linear one. High
anxiety had a different effect on the student achievement of boys and girls;
high anxious boys with an average I.Q. had higher student achievement
scores than their high I.Q. counterparts, although this difference was not
significant.
 46

Lokesh (1982) collected ratings of anxiety produced by

examinations in three subjects from samples of elementary and secondary
grade pupils enrolled in two comprehensive and one selective school
systems. Data show that comprehensive school system was advantageous
only to younger students. In both the school system there was a linear
connection between achievement standards and their extent of achievement
standards and extent of examination anxieties. An anxiety producing
effect was found in less efficient students from one type of comprehensive
school system when they were in the same classroom along with more
efficient students.

Bossong (1985) studies the influence of stress on 88 secondary

students of approximately 15 years of age. Students wrote comments on 1
of 14 fictitious results obtained from empirical studies and then
completed assessing school-related stress and anxiety. The fictitious results
created four experimental conditions: - they made no mention of stress,
merely mentioned stress or indicated that a low or high production of
students in the reference group experienced severe stress. They showed
that mere mention of stress in the fictitious study did not influence
secondary students’ perceptions of experienced stress. However, exposure
to fictitious study results indicated that a high proportion of reference
students experiencing severe stress resulted in increases indications of
stress on the questionnaires.

Spungin (1985) discusses the persistent misdiagnosis of her 15-year

old daughter, who had been supposed to be suffering from anorexia
nervosa by a number of doctors before the final diagnosis of her case as
Crohn’s disease. Her illness had symptoms of fatigue, stomach pains and
an inability to eat, which had been attributed to social and academic stress
– ‘A ninth opinion’.
 47

Molgoard (1985) examined disorganisation, lack of interest in one

self and others and found preoccupation, sadness and crying, contrary to
natural behaviour violence, regression, loss of weight, fear, fatigue,
extreme obedience/compliance, absence from school to be the symptoms
of children / teenagers under stress.

Bhattacharji (1989) in his study in the past three years reported that
a number of school children from English medium in the age group of 8 –
14 years lost their mental balance due to their inability to cope with the
syllabi prescribed by the school authorities and the expectation of their
parents. The study revealed that apart from common neurotic trends and
phobic reactions, psychosomatic illness like bronchial asthma, palpitations,
stammering were mostly found in children of 1st to 4th standards. The fear
of failure to satisfy the school authorities, anxiety and tensions of the
parents also, did contribute to the frustration and consequent breakdown of
their children.

Lesko and Summerfield (1989) examined the correlation between

the health of the students and the frequency of examinations and
assignments. Andrade and Srinath (1986) presents a case report of a 10-
year old girl with authority hallucinations that were found to be situation –
specific conversation reactions to the death of her favourite relative,
together, with academic stress, in a study, ‘ True auditory was a
conversation symptom’.

Wodarski, Kurtz and Hawing (1990) studied major academic,

socio-emotional and adaptive outcomes of maltreated school-age children.
In this study 139 school-age and adolescent children who had been
physically abused and who had been neglected participated in a multi-
source assessment. The authors used parent and child interviews, teacher
 48

ratings and data from school records to comprehensively assess older,

maltreated children’s school performance. Results showed that the abused
children displayed pervasive and severe academic and socio-emotional
problems. Neglected children displayed severe academic delays. Both
groups of maltreated children showed unexpected strengths on measures of
adaptive behaviour.

It was found in a study by Dholakia (2000) that in teaching practice

of the teacher trainees, the graduate teacher trainees received less academic
stress than the undergraduate teacher trainees. The graduates, who are less
stressed, had more adjustment in their level of teaching practice at the
schools. The level of teaching practice is also better in the graduates
compared to the under graduates.

Sarma (2004) in a study conducted that parental education was

highly associated with the academic stress of their children. The students
with the parents of official and government jobs may had poor level of
academic stress and better adjustment compared to the students of
business, coolie and agricultural parents.

Asha Batnagar (2007) observed 600 tenth class students of Delhi

and found a positive and significant correlation between the academic
stress factors and the academic achievement. He also found a significant
negative correlation between study habits and academic stress.
Premalatha Sharma (2007) in a study on achievement of rural girls found
that poor study habits were highly associated with higher stress. The level
of stress also leads to the academic success.
 49

Aruna (2008) from a study concluded that stress of X class students

had significant influence on their study habits. But, there was no
significant difference between the study habits of boys and girls and their
level of stress. The study behaviour of the students was significantly
related to their academic stress and adjustment.

2.4.3 Managing Academic Stress

‘School-bag’ right from the kinder garten has made the student life a
punishment. Adolescent students are not an exception, with over-loaded
curriculum and a period of transition to choose a proper career
immediately. The individual makes his best efforts to overcome the
difficulties or adjust himself to the environment. Each child has got his
own style of handling the problem he confronts and trying to develop his
abilities, capacities or formulate plans to overcome the problem. The act of
assistance provided by the teacher, psychologist or patient indifferent ways
enables the pupil to overcome the haunting devil - academic stress. The
available literature focuses on many ways of interventions, remedy and
suggestions as to how academic stress could best be overcome. The best
antidote could be by showing the problem as a challenge rather than a
problem by itself (researcher interview with students, teachers and
parents).

Puiq (1983) argues re-labelling as a useful counselling tool for

therapeutic intervention in problems of academic stress. Relabeling is
changing the symptom from a negative mysterious entity to part of the
individuals’ positive characteristics. The client’s anxiety, procrastination,
depression and confusion are relabeling as signs of important turmoil
related to growth and self-awareness.
 50

Rhodes and Swedcow (1983) designed a tutorial program to reduce

student stress, which focused on the comprehension of curriculum content,
time management, study skills, organisation of laboratory projects and
study materials and manual skill development.

Schwartz et.al., (1984) described a comprehensive program for

reducing student stress. The components include the overall orientation of
schools, student advising and counselling system and student oriented
program and courses.

Schools may be the sources of stress because they provide a context

in which performance and relationship demands are made. In a study on
‘School stress and anxiety intervention’, Forman and O’Malley (1984)
reported that psychological services in schools might promote the
emotional and physical health of individuals.

Whiteman et.al., (1985) undertook a study of the ways of reducing

the negative aspects of stress (distress). These include providing students
with a feeling of control over their education, giving them information
about what to expect and offering feedback regarding what can be done to
improve their own performance. Students who do not feel helpless will
adopt their own coping strategies.

A 28-minute videotape designed by Molgard (1985) suggested

various classroom activities and ways by which teachers can become
effective in reducing student stress. Teachers are encountered to deal with
students’ problems by showing sensitivity and warmth, communicating
acceptance and exhibiting a desire to understand. Development of good
listening skills is recommended to facilitate classroom discussion on
 51

feeling-level topics. The school activities include essay writing, rea

ding journals, teaching relaxation responses, using puppets and role plays
to act our situations, sharing situations and feelings, using subject matter
assignments displaying articles and cartoons on bulletin boards and starting
classroom meetings/discussions on issues involving feeling and
relationship.

In an attempt to reduce the level of alienation and existential

frustration among adolescents, Young (1985) emphasized creativity, group
orientation, in humanistic learning and provision of adequate coping
mechanisms.

The raising of achievement standards by parents and administration,

has been pressuring teachers to change the curriculum for young children,
with the result they are hurried and hot houses to advocate the appropriate
practices for the teaching of children, Hills (1987) emphasized that
teachers can and should: i. build respect for unique needs of young
children, ii. Promote the best interests of all young children, iii. Gain
support from other child development and early childhood professionals,
iv. Enlist parents in promoting appropriate programmes and v. gain a voice
in decision – making about curriculum and instruction.

Hamlin (1987) in his study suggested that academic stress can be

reduced by providing additional development programmes like: i.
increasing the number and quality of parent-staff contacts, ii. Improving
parent participation, iii. Improving parent and staff understanding of
developmental programming, iv. Formulating Early Education Council
(EEC) to bring the work of preschool and public school communities and
v. building political advocacy to address childcare needs.
 52

Thomas (1987) in a study on ‘Stress and Schooling’ found that at

home adolescents employed the main stress management strategies like
listening to music, reading and exercise whereas at school they employed
self-control, self-sufficiency and sharing problems with peers.

Sheridan and Smith (1987) studied stress and academic

achievement in high school students. They administrated a battery of tests
that assess the level of stressors, stress resistance resources and stress
related symptoms; all these three stress measures predicted grade point
average (GPA) with the strongest correlation between the stressor and the
GPAs. In the second phase of the study, 60 students participated in a stress
intervention programme that involved procedures including relaxed
breathing guided daydreams, tense relax training and autogenic training.
Students were assigned to control groups, a 6-week training group and a
12-week training group. Analysis of covariance indicated that treatment
produced three significant measures of stress.

Davis and Bull (1988) outline the areas of conflict that may lead to
emotional disturbance in gifted students from rural areas and advocates
that positive teacher interventions create a supportive learning environment
and lower student stress.

Pickens and Kies (1988) argue that one way to reduce academic
stress in children is to assign leisure reading as homework. The author
describes teacher- parent and teacher –student procedures for oral reading
at home, with conformation by parents and homework assignments, which
are co-operatively set by teachers and students.
 53

Suicide has become the solution to an increasing number of gifted

youths’ mounting frustrations, including success depression and school
stress. Farrell (1989) emphasized mandatory counselling within the gifted
curriculum as a preventive intervention.

Rajendren and Kaliappan (1990) studied the efficacy of the

behaviour programme in managing academic stress and improving
academic performance. 285 students were administrated student academic
stress scale (67items) which is primarily measures the four sources of
stressors namely - personal inadequacy, fear of failure, interpersonal
difficulties with teachers and parents and inadequate study facilities. The
subjects under high stress on each factor received the behavioural package
programme. The findings revealed that the behavioural package
programme increased personal adequacy level and reduced fear of failure
including interpersonal difficulties with teachers and parents. On the
whole, the changes in stress levels led to improvement in the academic
performance.
2.5 Coping / Adjustment to Academic Stress

There are many ways by which students cope or adjust with

academic stress. In the ultimate analysis the typical manner in which a
particular individual copes with the academic stress may be unique to him.
It is perhaps unlikely that several students put under similar academic
stress situations may always react in identical ways. Nevertheless, there
have been a large number of attempts at classifying the ways or methods
by which students cope with academic stress. These methods are referred
as coping or adjustment styles.
 54

The ‘coping’ broadly refers to manage environmental and internal

demands and conflicts among demands (Lazarus, 1961). The term ‘coping’
has been used interchangeably with concepts such as mastery, define,
adjustment and adaptation. A working definition proposed by Pearlin and
Schooler (1978) refers to it as any response to external life strains that
serves to prevent, avoid and control external distress. Folkman and Lazarus
(1980) defined coping as the cognitive and behavioural effort made to
master, tolerance or reduce external and internal demands and conflicts
among them. Several investigators attempted to classify the coping styles
of individuals to work stress (Bruke and Belcourt, 1974; Folkman and
Lazarus, 1980; Hall, 1972; Perlin and Schooler, 1978; Menaghan and
Merves, 1984) but no single and unanimously accepted method has yet
emerged.

Billings and Moose (1981) organised the dimensions of coping into

three dimensions according to their primary focus on organizing a
situation, dealing with the reality of the situation and handling the
emotions aroused by the situation as follows:

a) Appraisal –Focused Coping:-

This type involves attempts to define the meaning of a situation and

included such strategies as logical analysis, cognitive redefinition and
cognitive avoidance.

Logical Analysis: Strategies in this category include trying to

identify the cause of the problem, paying attention to one aspect of the
situation at a time, drawing on relevant past experiences and mentally
rehearsing possible actions and their consequences.
 55

Cognitive Redefinition: This category includes cognitive strategies

by which an individual accepts the reality of the situation but restructures it
to find something favourable.

Cognitive Avoidance: Included here are such strategies as denying

fear or anxiety under stress, trying to forget the whole situation, refusing to
believe that the problem really exists and engaging in wishful fantasies
instead of thinking realistically about the problem.

b) Problem – Focused Coping:-

This involves to modify or eliminate the source of stress to deal with

the tangible consequences of a problem or activity to change the self and to
develop a more satisfying situation.

Seek Information or Advice:- Responses in this category involve

seeking more information about the situation, obtaining direction and
guidance from an authority, talking with someone else about the problem
and asking someone to provide a specific kind of help.

Taking Problem Action:- These strategies include making alternative

plans, taking specification to deal directly with the situation, learning more
skills directed at the problem and negotiating and compromising to try to
resolve the issue.

Develop Alternative Rewards:- This strategy involves attempts to

deal with the problematic situation by changing one’s activities and
creating new sources of satisfaction.
 56

c) Emotion-Focused Coping:- This category includes responses

whose primary function is to manage the emotions aroused by stressors
and thereby to maintain affective equilibrium.

Affective Regulation:- This method included the direct efforts to

control the emotions aroused by a problem by conspicuously postponing
paying attention to an impulse, experiencing and working through one’s
feelings, trying not to be bothered by conflicting feelings, maintaining a
sense of pride and keeping a stiff upper lip and tolerating ambiguity by
withholding immediate action.

Resigned Acceptance:- This category includes such responses as

waiting for the time to remedy the problem, expecting the worst, accepting
the situation as it is, deciding that nothing can be done to change things
and submitting to fate.

Emotional Discharge:- Included here are verbal expressions to let

off steam, crying, smoking, overreacting and engaging in impulsive action.

In the first two editions of American Psychiatric Association

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (1952, 1968), anxiety was presented as
the chief characteristic of all neurotic disorders and two sub-types, anxiety
neurosis and phobic neurosis were identified. In addition, transitional
situational disturbances were classified separately as acute reactions to
overwhelming environmental stress in individuals without any apparent
underlying mental disorders.

Far-reaching changes in the diagnosis and classification of anxiety

disorders had been introduced in the past decade by the Feighner criteria
(Feighner, 1972), the reach diagnostic criteria (Spitzer et.al., 1978) and
most decisively by DSM-III, 1980.
 57

2.5.1 Why the Adjustment is needed?

Adjustment as a process is of major importance for psychologists,

teachers and parents. To analyse the process, we should study the
development of an individual longitudinally from his birth onwards. The
child, at the time of his birth, is absolutely dependent on others for the
satisfaction of his needs, but gradually with the age advances, he learns to
control his needs. His adjustment largely depends on his interaction with
the external environment in which he lives. When the child is born, the
world for him is a big buzzing and blooming confusion. He cannot
differentiate among the various objects of his environment but as he
matures, he comes to learn to articulate the details of his environment
through the process of sensation, perception and conception. The child in
his infancy can respond and think about only concrete objects of his
environment. The process of abstraction comes afterwards. The young
children lack the capability of self -control of the instinctive impulses.

Anything, which appears to their senses bright, they try to take hold
of it. Their development is purely on instinctive level. The nature of
adjustive process is decided by a number of factors, particularly, internal
needs and external demands of the child. When a conflict occurs between
internal needs and external demands, in such conditions, there are three
alternatives:

1. The individual may inhibit or modify his internal need or demand.

2. He can alter the environment and can satisfy his demands and

3. He can use some mental mechanism to escape from the conflicting

situation and may be able to maintain the balance of his personality.
 58

Piaget (1952) studied the adjustive process from different angles.

He used the term accommodation and assimilation to represent the
alteration of oneself or environment as a means of adjustment. A person,
who carries his values and standard of conduct without any change and
maintains these in spite of major change in the social climate, is called
assimilator. The man, who takes his standard from social context and
changes his beliefs in accordance with the altered values of the society, is
called accommodator.

Now the question arises which of the above-referred processes of

adjustment is more effective. It is very difficult to answer this question in
clear-cut terms because relative merits of either of the adjective process,
requires making value judgement. The human being, in order to adjust
successfully in his society, has to resort to both the devices.

Freud, Adler and Jung (1963) have made very significant findings
regarding adjustment process. The concept of adjustment is as old as
human race on the earth. Systematic emergence of this concept starts from
Darwin. In those days, the concept was purely biological and he used the
term adoption. The adaptability to environmental hazards goes on
increasing as we proceed on the photo genetic scale from the lower
extreme to the higher extreme of life.

Adjustment is a lifelong process starting from birth of the child.

Though the home can develop many good habits, which may help in the
future adjustment of the child, the schools too have a pivotal role in
guiding the child. Moreover, there are many conditions in the school,
which may lead to the child’s maladjustment. Man among the living beings
has the highest capacities to adapt to new situations. Man as social animal
not only adapts to physical demands but also he adjusts to social pressures
in the society. Adjustment is an important characteristic of living
 59

organism. Every individual develops of his own, unique way of treating

various societal and natural constraints. It seems to be influenced by the
various psychosocial factors and reflected in terms of behavioural activity.

2.5.2 Factors – Affecting Adjustment

Some of the important factors that affect the study habits are given
below.

i. Home is the first school for every child and mother is the first
teacher. If the home environment is good, automatically child’s
nature in the school is good. Hence the relationship with family
members such as parents, brothers and sisters influence the
child’s performance.

ii. The Residence of the pupils plays an important role in their study
habits.

iii. After home, child spends more time in his school. Hence, the
school environment also be good. The teacher and the peer group
also play an important role in his study habits. Parents are also
looking after, the friends of their child. Because with good
friends, he learn good habits.

iv. Curriculum is also one of the factors for developing good study
habits. Curriculum should be constructed on the standards of the
child.

v. Besides the above three, personality of the child is very important

factor in developing good study habits. If the child easily adjusts
with the environment, he develops good study habits.
 60

vi. If personality factors are good, the intelligence factors are also
good. Intelligence also plays as pivotal role on the good study
habits of the child. It is general observation that intelligence
students stood in top positions.

vii. Community is also an important factor for developing good

study habits. Community has to arrange the community centres
such as library facilities, community resource centres,
information canters etc. The good community provides necessary
facilities for good study.

viii. Apart from all the above factors sex, caste, physical and social
environment of the students also influences their study habits.

2.6 Studies on Adjustment Styles

There are some studies which surveyed the actions or adjustment

styles that students adopt in order to cope with the academic stress. How
academic stress is likely to affect the efficiency of memory and its
component mechanisms? It is generally agreed that the degree of
elaboration of an event will determine how efficiently its details are
recorded and how easily the memory can be retrieved.

In a study conducted by Bailey and Hailey (1983) on the role of

intelligence in the selection of a coping strategy by the undergraduate
students in the test situations showed that intelligence was related to the
selection of a predominant coping strategy and that identification of
patterns of coping styles was more useful than that of one predominant
style.
 61

Heinemann and Shontz (1984) in a study on ‘adjustment following

Physical Disability’ using the representative case method with two persons
with quadriplegia, highlighted the importance of the previously established
coping styles as well as the role of the environment in adjustment.
Willingness to mourn aided in later growth.

In a study carried out by Chanda and Chandra (1985) on

adolescent boys and girls of 13 to 17 years, it has been found that (i)
attitudes towards school affect the adjustment of an adolescent (ii) students
who have a positive attitude towards their school are better adjusted (iii)
both emotional and educational help to achieve more in the school, (iv)
adolescent boys are better adjusted than adolescent girls.

Feldstein et.al., (1987) investigated how children cope with stress

by assessing specific coping styles among 102 seven-year-old and 74 ten-
year-old events divided by gender. A transactional model of stress and
coping was applied in semi-structural interviews with the students. Results
show that emotion management was more prevalent in the older group.
Boys reported coping in a relatively more individualistic way; whereas
girls gave more importance to the achievement.

The study on Students’ coping with Academic and Social Stress in

an inner-city middle school reports the findings of several studies designed
to examine the students’ coping processes in relation to the stressful
academic and social situations in the school environment. The setting for
these studies was an inner-city intermediate school with approximately 423
students in the academic year 1984-85. Over 95% of the students were
American-born Blacks; the rest were Blacks from the Islands or Hispanic.
Major findings include the following: students’ responses to the academic
coping inventory in two successive years to year although there was
 62

considerable continuity in students’ perceptions of stress level from year to

year. This may suggest that coping is not a trait but a complex amalgam of
thoughts and behaviours. For the groups of the students at the extremes on
achievement and perceptions of stress, some of the differences in coping
styles showed more continuity. For example, there seemed to have been a
developmental trend toward more positive coping. Students’ appraisals of
their efficacy in socially-stressful situations appeared to have been more
realistic than those in the academic context. Teachers found students with
higher achievement being higher in positive academic and social coping
behaviours. A number of gender differences in coping styles were revealed
(Fahs, 1987).

Coompass, Malcarne and Fondacaro (1988) examined the

capacities to generate alternative solutions to cope with stressful events
and the strategies to cope with the interpersonal and academic stressors in
a simple of junior high school age youngsters. Subjects were moderately
consistent in the generation and use of problem and emotion –focused
coping with the two types of events and they adjusted the number of
problem-focused alternative solutions they generated to match their
appraisals of the controllability of the cause of interpersonal stressors (the
number of alternative solutions generated and strategies used for
interpersonal stressors was related to both self-reports and material reports
of internalizing and externalizing emotional / behavioural problems).
Specifically, the problem-focuses that the alternatives generated and the
strategies used were negatively related to emotional / behavioural
problems. Coping with academic stress was not related to emotional /
behavioural problems. Self-reported emotional / behavioural problems
varied as a function of the match between perceived control and other
coping strategies.
 63

Hartley and Kolene (1988) conducted a study on ‘Mild Depression:

Its Relation to Stress, Coping and Gender’ to find out the relationship of
mild depression to global stress, specific stressors, problem-focused
coping, emotion-focused coping and gender. The existing theory supported
expectations that the non-depressed and the mildly-depressed persons
would use different coping styles and the perceptions of stressful events
and the qualtity of stressful events would be related to mild-depression.
Students were identified as either the non-depressed or the mildly-
depressed by scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A
discriminative analysis was made using two measures of stress, two
measures of coping and gender as predictors. All variables except problem-
focused coping entered the discriminate function. The two measures of
stress, emotion-focused coping and the participant’s gender differentiated
between the mildly-depressed and the non-depressed subjects. The result
generally supports the theory of depression as it applies to the mildly
depressed persons.

In a study by Arulamani (1989) on 15 components and 15 disturbed

adolescents’ aged 15 to 16 years, from a school in a slum, it was found that
the family had an important role to play in the development of a competent
adolescents. The competent adolescents had better adjustment in all the
areas of home, health, school and peers and had better ego-identify unlike
the disturbed adolescents. The competent sought social support, accepted
responsibilities, had effective self-control and positive self-appraisal and
had an effective problem-solving approach to difficulties. The coping
styles of the disturbed adolescents were avoidance and escape. The sample
size of 15 in each groups limits generalization.
 64

Grower, Thomas and Shoffner (1992) conducted a longitudinal

study of high school adolescents to investigate developmental and gender
influence on stress and coping. Life stress was measured through the
Adolescent Life Change Event Scale (ALCES) and the ways of coping
through open-ended questionnaires. Girls reported more life event stress in
both the tests than boys. Life event stress was greater in a later testing of
both girls and boys, but girls scores increased more. (The gender
intensification phenomenon may account for the greater disparity in types
of stress as girls reported more life events associated with interpersonal
and family relationship).

Claes (1992) evaluated the friendship network, the expectation and

level of intimacy with friends as well as the presence of conflict with
friends and personal adjustment in adolescents of 12 to 18 years. Results
indicated that the number of friends in the network was not significantly
correlated with the personal adjustment variables. Lee and others (1992)
examined the relationship between coping styles and psychological distress
in a non-clinical sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. Results
showed avoidance / blaming as a significant and moderately strong
predictor of psychological distress in problem areas. Factor analyses
suggested that adolescents used relatively similar coping strategies.

Fuhrman and Holnbeck (1995) examined whether a relationship

exists between emotional autonomy and adolescent as moderated by
several individual, familial and cultural contexts. Results indicate that
when the affective nature of a relationship is positive, positive adolescent
adjustment is more likely and the adolescents then report less emotional
autonomy. On the other hand, when the family environment is more
stressful, emotional autonomy is positively associated with adolescent
adjustment.
 65

Trueba (1996) examined 16 distinct characteristics of Mexican and

Mexican-American children’s adjustment problems. The coping
mechanisms tended to be (i) Under participation, (ii) Over participation
and (iii) Selective participation in academic tasks under protest.
Recommendations included closer home-school ties, more effective
teacher training and increased availability of aids.

Obah Thalma (1996) in a study on ‘poor knowledge and the quest

for new knowledge: the third world dilemma’ argues that when students in
third world nations use foreign materials and encounter a culture-concept
gap, their teachers need coping mechanisms that help build up the
students’ store of background knowledge.

Rosenfeld (2003) confirmed the following hypotheses: (i) liked

classed have a more supportive and less defensive communication climate
than disliked classes and (ii) student behaviour in classes with a defensive
communication climate is characterized by the use of coping mechanisms
(day dreaming, forming alliances, etc) in a study on a communication
climate and coping mechanisms in the college classrooms.

Vyas (2005) showed that age is to be effective in bringing about

variation in the level of adjustment styles. The elders had better level of
adjustment compared to the young and middle aged student-teachers in the
Teacher Training Institutes.

Bibace and others (2007) described an interactive computerized

teaching program with which students learn to analyze behaviours as
examples of psychological defence. Students’ satisfaction with the
program and their subsequent performance in identifying defence
mechanisms identified that the programme was successful in developing
analytical skills.
 66

Stress is a part of the normal process of growing and developing

children. A stress situation is composed of anxiety and stress. If coping
strategies are inadequate, depression can result. Four categories of stress
include time, anticipatory, situational and encounter stress. It is important
to recognise the unsuccessful defence mechanisms employed by children
to try to deal with anxiety-provoking situations. These include repression,
regression, projection, displacement and reaction formation,
rationalization, denial and identification. It is the child’s individual
perception that sets the tone and the amount of stress in response to a
particular event. A variety of technique have been proven effective in
helping children deal with stress, including yoga, deep muscle relaxation
and guided visual imaginary. Adults should be aware of the stress in
children’s’ lives and should assist in the development of positive coping
stratagems (Gold, 2007).

Amandeep Kaur and Sweepandeep Kaur (2007) reviewed in their

research that – (i) emotional adjustment and parent-child relationship of
adolescents are positively correlated with each other. If the parent-child
relation is good and healthy, then a child is emotionally well adjusted. (ii)
there is no significant difference between the boys and girls on their
emotional adjustment. The reason for the insignificant may be that there
are lots of similarities in culture, politics and environmental conditions of
boys and girls.

Teaching experience at the Lab School of Washington has shown

that learning-disabled children and adults cope with their lack of self-
esteem and feelings of stupidity by developing masks to hide their hurt
(Smith, 2008). These include masks of super-competence, helplessness,
 67

invisibility, clowning, injustice collecting, indifference, boredom,

outrageousness, contempt, illness and others.

Behera (2008) found that external controlled persons whether they

were from high socio-economic status group or low, did not differ in their
level of adjustment. And internally controlled persons from advanced and
backward socio-economic status families differ significantly in the
adjustment scores.

2.7 Characteristics of a well adjusted person

A well adjusted person is supposed to possess the following

characteristics.

i. Awareness of one’ own strengths and limitations.

ii. Respecting one’s self and the others.
iii. An adequate level of aspiration.
iv. Satisfaction of the basic needs.
v. Absence of critical or faultfinding attitude.
vi. Flexibility of his behaviour.
vii. Capable of struggling with odd circumstances.
viii. A realistic perception of the world.
ix. Feeling at home with his surroundings.
x. An adequate philosophy of life.
(Extracted from the text book – Advanced Educational Psychology
by S.D. Bhatia, 1998, Sterling Publishing House, Agra)

A well-adjusted individual is an asset to himself and a boon to the

society whereas a maladjusted personality brings misfortune to one’s self
and discomforts to others.
 68

The following measures may prove fruitful in this direction.

1. Balanced growth and development:- We must be careful in bringing

balanced growth and development of Child’s personality. His physical and
mental health as well as his social, emotional and aesthetic development
should be properly attended to.

2. Satisfaction of the basic needs:- The degree of one’s adjustment is

directly proportional to one’s feeling of satisfaction with regard to one’s
varying needs. Therefore, the child should not suffer from physical,
mental, emotional and social starvation.

3. Awareness of strength and weakness:- The child should be helped in

realizing his strengths as well as weakness.

4. Setting a proper level of aspiration:- The child should be helped in

setting a proper level of aspiration, ideals and ambitions for going ahead in
his life.

5. Developing tension-tolerance:- We should help children in developing

tension-tolerance in them so that they may not break under stresses and
strains of the odds of life.

6. Harmony with the demands of society and culture:- In order to help the
children in adjusting with the demands of the society and cultures, teachers
and parents should themselves try to practice the right ways and good
habits.

7. Providing healthy environment:- Maladjustment is a product of faulty

up-bringing and uncongenial environment at home, school and other places
of social contact. Therefore, proper care should be taken to provide healthy
environment of the children by the teachers, parents and other responsible
members of the society.
 69

8. Provision of guidance and counselling:- Life is made of numerous

problems. They are found bound to exist. Children should be made to face
them independently. But in many cases they need proper guidance in
making right choices and proper selection with respect to their education,
vocation and personal world.

2.8 Academic Success and Academic Stress

‘Success’ being the buzzword in our competitive world, people from

all walks of life adopt different methods to have the best yield. Relatively,
the concept of failure is considered less seriously in academic institutions.
The children who are exposed to many stresses have the ultimate goal of
acquiring the maximum marks in the annual examinations and aspiration
set by parents, society or framing their own career, especially after +2 is
found to be conflicting. The problem again lies with curriculum that does
not suit an academic year. The quality in education shows a decline
without catering to the growing demands. Competition, struggle for
existence, high parental expectations and many others are considerably
contributing a lot to frustration, conflicts and pressures in student’s life.
Hence, they begin to show the symptoms of restlessness, lack of self-
confidence, aggression that in turn is reflected in their poor academic
performance (success) by which the success rate in schools is declining.
Success depends on patterns of parental behaviour, teaching styles, pupil-
teacher relationship, motivation, study habits and better adjustment styles.

The following few pages show the different research studies on

academic success.

Edwards (1976) studied the academically successful black students

to determine the variables accounting for the success. The students
included 6 male and 15 female first term seniors with a GPA of 3.0 or
 70

better enrolled at a large (3000 +) nearly from all –Black high school in a
residential / industrial neighbourhood. Variables found related to success
included positive school experienced (Elementary school was most
positive), high academic performance (grades improved throughout high
school) encouragement from parents’ and / or other sources, positive
attitudes towards the value of academic success, high self-esteem and
occupational aspirations (financial rewards were important). From this
study it is clear that better scholastic adjustment yields better academic
performance.

Srivastava (1977) inter-correlated 6 variables – study habits,

general adjustment, reading ability, academic motivation and the total
number of problems in family, school, economic and recreational areas of
life. Results indicated the following: all the 6 variables significantly
correlated with each other except with reading and total adjustment;
reading ability, study habits and academic motivation were more strongly
related to achievement than the 3 measures of personality and except
reading ability, all the variables had low correlation with intelligence.

Borzym (1979) investigated the relationships of the ability of pupil,

achievement and the teaching style. High school students in their third and
fourth year were grouped according to their I.Q. and were taught by
democratic or autocratic methods. Analysis showed that (a) the most ablest
students achieved the best in democratic setting, (b) the least able students
achieved the best in an autocratic setting and (c) the average students
achieved the best in a mixed teaching style.

Rani et.al., (1985) examined the relationship between courage and

achievement in a sample of 594 male and 393 female adolescents. It was
hypothesized that courage would be related to academic achievement and
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that age, sex, family, economic status and family structure would moderate
this relationship. Results supported that hypothesis pointing out the
importance of courage in academic performance.

A common explanation for the poor performance of American

children in cross-cultural comparison of academic achievement is that they
spent little time in study. After school they did or they devoted very little
time to academic activities (Gardener, 1987).

The role of interpersonal psychological variables in academic school

learning studied by ‘Boyle’ (1987) showed that under stressful conditions,
interpersonal variables other than cognitive ability may become
predominant in influencing the academic achievement. When analyses are
based on change scores rather than on single-occasion measures the
influence of emotional states on learning is shown to be highly significant.
From this study, it is clear that, stressful conditions of students lead to
satisfactory emotional adjustment, which affects their scholastic
performance.

Chase, Jacobs and Meredith (2007) studied the expenditure for

activities and the impact on achievement, discipline and attitudes of high
school students. They tested the hypothesis that the schools with higher
levels of spending for activities will show higher student involvement,
produce higher levels of academic achievement, increase the retention
power of the school and produce more positive attitudes. Results showed
that in terms of academic achievement and attitudinal variables, the extra
expenditure made a very modest impact. According to this study, higher
level of spending for activities will show higher student involvement and
will produce higher levels of academic achievement by students.
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Stevenson and Baker (2008) examined the relationship between

parent involvement in schooling and child’s performance, using 179
children (aged 5 – 17), parents and teachers. It was hypothesized that, the
higher the educational status of the mother, the greater would be the degree
of parental involvement in school activities; the younger the age of the
child, the greater would be the degree of parental involvement and children
of parents who are more involved in school activities do better in school
than children of parents who are less involved. Results supported the
hypotheses – the mother’s educational level and the age of the child were
stronger predictors of parental involvement in schooling for boys than
those for girls.

2. 9 Studies on Study Habits

The student who has acquired good study habits has developed a
behaviour pattern, which enables him/her to sit down and begin working
on his/her assignment with a minimum concentration. Individual study
habits play a pivotal role in determining in a pupil’s academic
achievement. A student’s progress or failure in the classroom depends
upon several factors like interest in the subject, study facilities, own study
habits and so on. Academic achievement is the achievement of the pupil
during the course of his study, the standard of achievement in language, in
subjects and in general knowledge.

Gray Lee (1990) indicated that there was no significant difference

between study habits and achievement in the subjects. Ramaswamy
(1990) observed that there is significant difference between high and low
achievers in study habits among the boys and girls.
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Ekins Judith (1992) investigated in a study on approaches of

distance learning students, studying French as a second language. He
reported that command of English is related to the study approaches and
skills and it is likely to lead to academic success and persistence. Ruth Lee
(1992) conducted a study on the development of a study skill to improve
grades in IX and X class students. It is found that development of study
skills increased student achievement.

Stella and Purushothaman (1993) showed that there is no

significant difference between the study habits of under achieving boys
and girls. On Tse Ka and Watkins (1994) found that the study habits are
significantly correlated with the school grades of first year school students
in Hong Kong. Aruna (1994) concluded that scholastic achievement of the
IX class pupils had significant influence on their study habits.

Rewat Leela (1995) showed that there was no significant difference

between the study habits of boys and girls and their academic achievement.
Fruntera Lucy and Rosalind (1995) found that the students study
behaviour were significantly related to their success. Verma (1996)
showed that students possessing good study habits scored higher
achievement than students possessing good study habits in the English,
Hindi and Social Studies. On the other hand, students having poor study
habits scored almost equal achievement in Mathematics and General
Science.

Naraya Koteswara (1997) showed that the study habits total score
significantly influenced on reading achievement of high school students.
Gordan and Darline (1998) found that the students having good study
habits possessed good achievement. Venden Hurk (1998) showed that the
study habits of medical students were correlated with their academic
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achievement and academic stress. Lindbalm and Yalamne (1999) showed

that the students individual study orchestrations were related to their
academic success. Panchanathan (1999) found that maintaining
emotional balance among students through a psychologist by using auto
counselling increased their academic performance.

Sam Sananda Raj and Sreethi (2000) found that study habits and
academic achievement on students are positively and significantly related.
Sinde (2001) found that imparting study skills training may enhance the
scholastic achievement of students. Archana and Mona Sharma (2002)
conducted a study on 26 fifth grade children in Indore. The result revealed
that the instructional material on making skill classification could
positively influence the achievement of students on the criterion test.

Govinda Reddy (2002) studied that the study habit areas namely:
home environment, reading, listening and note-taking techniques, general
habits and attitude of work, planning of work and subject, habits of
concentration, preparation for examinations and total score of the study
habits inventory have significant influence on the total achievement of the
DIET students.

Naveen Kumar Reddy (2003) found that study habits and academic
achievement of students are positively and significantly related. Bhaskara
Rao, Somasurya Prakash Rao and Bhuvaneswari Lakshmi (2004) have
identified a positive relationship between study habits and achievement.
Guravaiah (2005) studied that the achievement of pupils in public
examinations in school subjects does not have significant influence on
study habits of the pupils.
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Manchala (2007) studied that all the ten areas of study habits
inventory have significant influence on scholastic achievement of B.Ed.
students in theory and practical work and total achievement. Better study
habits are associated with better scholastic achievement.

2.10 Studies on Mental Health

Mental health is the adjustment of individuals to themselves and the

world at large, with maximum effectiveness, satisfaction, cheerfulness,
society considerate behaviour and the ability to face and accept the realities
of life (Bernard, 1951).

According to English (1954) mental health is a relatively enduring

state wherein the person is well adjusted, has a jest for living and in
attaining self actualization.

Boehm (1955) defined mental health as a condition and level of

social functioning which is socially acceptable and personally satisfying.
George and Lott (1962) studied that prevention of college failures has
dealt with some of the mental health factors, which are associated with the
problems of college failures and family affaires.

Bledsoe (1963) reported that elementary school girls tend to rate

themselves significantly higher on the mental health analysis than the
elementary school boys.

Kasi (1973) has observed that poor mental health was associated
with inadequate income level of the parents.

Kapur (1976) observed that the concept of ideal social functioning

social equivalent of positive psychological wellbeing. Holmstorm Reijo
(1976) obtained results showing that women are more mentally healthy
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than men. The parental relationship at home in childhood has a major

bearing on mental health development.

In view of the ‘Alma Ata Declaration’, the goal being health for all
by 2000 A.D., defining health as physical, mental and social well-being,
Shah (1982) has expressed that mental health is ‘the most essential and
inseparable component of health and integrated component of public health
and social welfare programmes.

Mental health professionals, however, agree that positive mental

health is not the mere absence of mental illness but something different
(Nagaraja, 1983). Daniel (1989) found sex differences among adolescents
with regard to their mental health.

Hurth and Kim (1990) correlated male and female Korean

immigrant’s mental health scores and found that subjects who were
married, highly educated and currently employed in a high status
occupation indicated better subjective mental health than others.
Significant gender differences in the correlates of mental health were
observed.

A study conducted by Gupta (1993) reveals that students in rural

schools displayed feelings of insecurity, emotional instability, poor
adjustment and poor mental health. Urban students were found to be
superior to rural students in emotional stability, autonomy, activity level,
adjustment, security and intelligence.

Rai and Yadava (1993) revealed that (i) mental health of low socio-
economic status students is lower than that of the students of higher socio-
economic status, (ii) female students are mentally healthier than male
students when SES is controlled, (iii) urban and rural students do not differ
significantly on mental health when SES is controlled, (iv) mental health
 77

increases with grade (age also) and (v) a curvilinear relationship exists
between age and mental health.

Viswanadha Reddy and Nagarathnamma (1993) revealed no

difference between rural and urban students, with regard to their mental
health status. Boys and girls in the sample slightly differed from each other
with regard to their mental health status, where as the SES did not
contribute to their mental health status.

Bharathi (1994) examined the effect of different organisations on

clerks of different age groups and found the employees belonging to
private sector possessed low level of mental health. In another study
Bharathi (1994) found the most significant mental health factors that
contributed to the overall mental health of the employees were –
environmental mastery, integration of personality, positive self evaluation,
group oriented attitudes, perception of reality and autonomy – in that order.

Reddy (1994) found that locality and socio-economic status of the

high school students did not show effect on their mental health status. He
further noticed no difference between boys and girls with regard to their
mental health. Nagarathnamma (1994) found a positive relationship
between mental health and academic achievement among rural and urban
high school students. Viswanatha Reddy and Nagaratnamma (1994)
showed the relationship between school environment and mental health
status among the high school students.

Dwyer and Bernstein (1998) inferred that the current future status
of the school psychologist’s role in mental health programming is
addressed. Despite concerns that school psychologists are sending the
majority of their time conducting psycho educational assessments, there is
evidence that some school psychologists are conducting mental health
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programmes. We describe ‘islands of Hope’ – programmes in which

school psychologists assume key role in mental health programme
development, implementation and evaluation.

Christesen (1999) stated that no significant difference existed in

either the frequency or the length of hospitalization between the two sexes
with mental disorders.

The effect of exposure to organized violence, age, gender, individual

vulnerability, parental functioning and peer relationships on the children’s
well-being and adjustment was investigated using multiple and logistic
regression analyses. Mother’s emotional well-being predicted emotional
well-being in children. Whereas children are social adjustment and self-
worth were mainly predicted by the quality of their peer relationships
(Almquist and Broberg, 1999).

It is hypothesized that environmental support would improve both

young neighbourhood perception and their mental health. 792 adolescents
aged (14-18 years) respondent to highly structured interviews. The effect
of objective environment on mental health was mediated through its
influence on perceived neighbourhood. Environmental support mitigated
negative perceptions of environments and the effect of perceived
environment on mental health. The exposure to violence augmented the
negative effect of perceived environment (Stiffman, et.al., 1999).

Madhu Asthana (2000) revealed that personality dimensions,

psychotism and neurotism were related to poor mental health while
extraversion exhibited no significant relation. Similarly gender produced
no different effect, (neither main nor interactional) upon mental health in
relation to personality dimensions.
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Kedarnath (2000) indicated that there is a significant difference in

the emotional intelligence and self acceptance of the high and low mental
health status; and the obtained ‘r’ values indicated that mental health has
significant positive correlation with the emotional intelligence and self
acceptance of the participants.

Nav Ratten Sharma and Yadava (2000) concluded that when the
demands from the environment are more and or is less and a person is not
able to complete the work, he/she experiences a sense of anxiety,
unfulfillment, dissatisfaction, worry and finally unpleasant feelings and
even depression. This in turn affects the mental health adversely, which
highlights that gender, caste, place of living and working, socio-economic
status and other cultural factors are the strong antecedents of mental health.

Renu Rastogi and Kavitha Kashyap (2001) concluded that

maximum occupational stress was found among nurses in comparison to
clerks and teachers. Neeta Jain and Ravi Gunthey (2001) indicated that
working and non-working women differed significantly on their mental
health.

Revathi (2001) stated that the trend in community mental health

services is organising the programme mainly with primary, secondary and
tertiary prevention, which can be suitably modified depending on the needs
of the community.

Viswanatha Reddy and Nagarathnamma (2001) showed that

parental variables like the education and occupational level of father and
mother and family income have an influence on mental health of the high
school students.
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Janiece (2004) examined the impact of children’s mental health on

their school success. Poor academic functioning and inconsistent school
attendance were identified as early signs of emerging or existing mental
health problems during childhood and adolescence. Among the goals of
school nursing is to provide a progress for identification and resolution of
students health needs as they affect educational achievement. School
nursing is well positioned to respond to the needs for mental health
promotion, illness prevention and early intervention related to children’s
mental health.

Child and Adolescent mental health is an essential component of

overall health and its importance is increased. Further, there is an increased
understanding that children who are not mentally healthy can have an
adverse impact on the stability and economic viability of nations. Of
particular importance throughout the world is the fact that positive mental
health plays a role in supporting compliance and adherence to a broad
spectrum of health regimens. Yet, the almost universally expressed
recognition of the importance for societies, as well as for the individual, to
have children and adolescents attain and human resources necessary to
meet the observable need. It is only now with progress being made in the
eradication of infections, diseases and the improvement of nutritional
status and improved health education in many localities that it may become
possible for societies to consider the mental health of children as priority
issue (Belfer, 2005).

Optimum, submissive behaviours, richness of social network and

demographic variables were examined by Ayse Sibel Turkum (2005) as
predictors of psychological well-being. Results of hierarchical regression
 81

analysis indicated that optimum, submissiveness, marital status and

occupational status predict well-being. Social network richness, gender and
educational level did not contribute significantly to the variation in well-
being.

Mamola (2008) found in her study on the mental health of the

college students in relation to their academic stress that mental health is
significantly related to the academic stress. The level of mental health has
positive influence on their level of adjustment.

2.11 Appraisal

It may be seen from the brief review of literature presented in the

foregoing pages that a number of studies have been carried out on the
relation between academic stress of general students, adolescent students,
college students etc. The studies yielded contradictory results on the
relation between different personal and demographic variables and
academic stress and adjustment styles of the different categories of
students. Therefore it is difficult to summarise the conclusions of these
studies as they have concerned themselves about a wide variety of aspects
of academic stress, adjustment styles in relation to the mental health and
study habits of the different categories of students.

Although mental health and study habits are also important from the
educational point of view, these areas are not much explored as academic
stress on the students. The results of even the few studies present a
confusing picture with contradictory results.
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It is needless to say that a very few studies have been conducted to

study academic stress and adjustment styles of teacher training students in
relation to the mental health and study habits and whatever studies exists,
none of them is comprehensive enough so as to enable one to draw any
conclusive result.

Under these circumstances, it is quite reasonable to say that there is

a great need to conduct more and more similar studies. Hence, the
investigator was made to move in this direction and conduct the
investigation in which the academic stress and adjustment of the teacher
training students studied at DIETs could be studied in comparison with
study habits and mental health. This resulted, finally, into the statement of
the present problem whose procedure of investigation is described in the
following chapter.