A Study of Academic Anxiety and School Adjustment among Adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29120/ijpsw.2018.v9.i2.118Abstract
Background: Adolescence is a stage with tremendous pressure and stress. Adolescents are expected to perform at every front, the main one being academics. Academic anxiety is a feeling of being fearful or stressed due to school pressures. School adjustment is a procedure that brings a person's behaviour in compliance with the norms of the school; it comprises academic, social and emotional adjustment. Aims: The present study aims to examine the level of academic anxiety and school adjustment among the school going adolescent girls and boys residing in orphanages and ones with their families. The gender differences were also examined. Methodology: A total of 60 school going adolescent girls and boys aged 14-18 years residing in orphanages and a controlled group of adolescents living with families matched on the basis of age, gender and school were selected as sample for the study. A self-constructed interview schedule was used to examine the socio-demographic profile of the respondents, Academic Anxiety Scale for Children by Singh and Sengupta and Adjustment Inventory for school students by Sinha & Singh were used. Results & Conclusion: The results showed that the adolescents residing in orphanages had lower academic anxiety than the ones living with their families and scores of adolescent girls were higher than the boys. The scores on school adjustment showed that the adolescents living with families had significantly better school adjustment than the ones living in the orphanages and overall the girls had lower adjustment level than the boys.
Keywords: Adolescents, orphanages, academic anxiety, school adjustment
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