In today’s world, the tendency is that students to face a lot of challenges to succeed in their education. Stress becomes an integral part of the learning process since they are often pressed to receive high marks, having concerns about their future job opportunities and potential failures. Pascoe et al. (2020) conducted a study to assess stress levels among secondary and tertiary students. The authors initiated a narrative review to explore the influence of stress on participants’ academic performance, as well as psychological and overall well-being. The snowball strategy allowed the authors to find relevant scholarly articles to collect the necessary information.
The review includes the articles with various designs and countries as specific goals were not identified. The impact of stress was the main focus of this study that integrated such variables as sleep, substance use, mental health, physical activity, and dropout rates.
The results of the study by Pascoe et al. (2020) demonstrate that the majority of students report high levels of stress and negative effects on their mental and physical health. Depression and anxiety symptoms are noted as the factors that reduce academic achievement, which is especially relevant to male students, who are more likely to undertake higher education. Educational stress increases the risks of substance use as a coping strategy, which means that students need proper perceived social support to overcome this challenge. Several reviewed studies also indicate that sleep disorders and physical health deterioration are two more adverse outcomes of academic stress.
Namely, obesity resulting from unhealthy lifestyles or chronic loss of sleep can develop. In addition, the authors emphasize the risk of a higher dropout since students feel exhausted, ineffective, and depersonalized, which decreases their motivation to study (Pascoe et al., 2020). From a long-term perspective, these stress outcomes affect students’ adulthood, leading to lower-income, poorer physical and mental health, low self-esteem, and a lack of interest in further education.
The mentioned results make it clear that educational settings need to be adjusted to help students in becoming more resilient to stress. The first concept is student academic-related stress that integrates a range of factors, each of which should be considered in context. Teachers, parents, and counselors can work in cooperation to resolve individual issues faced by students. For example, those parents who cannot understand their child or do not have open relationships should rely more on the recommendations from social workers. If a female student has poor academic performance, insomnia, and low self-confidence, these problems should be considered interrelated issues.
The second concept refers to school-based stress management programs that are aimed at teaching students to build abilities and skills to cope with stress. Such programs are regarded as moderately effective ways to minimize negative health and social impacts.
Even though the content and resources of programs may vary, the idea of showing students how to address their challenges is relevant since unresolved stressors would make a significant imprint on their future lives. On a larger scale, reduced academic stress is associated with social, health, and economic benefits at a community and global levels. Accordingly, the choice of the interventions to be implemented through such programs can be different, depending on a country, culture, students’ age, parent engagement, teaching settings, and many other factors. Thus, the reviewed article provides important insights into the effects of academic stress and possible coping mechanisms.
Reference
Pascoe, M. C., Hetrick, S. E., & Parker, A. G. (2020). The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 104-112.