Considering the importance, time and effort expended on education, academic failure of a child in school raises a lot of questions where stress is cited as one of the major reasons. With students spending most of their time in school, the causes or sources of stress are highly likely to emanate from the academic environment that are usually accompanied by various negative consequences. As such, student stress is caused by factors such as excess academic workload, interpersonal stressors and worries about college credit card debt, among others that lead to negative consequences such as lack of concentration in class or missing class altogether, among others.
Much of student stress can be inferred as being caused by interpersonal problems as identified by Rudolph & Hammen (1999), considering that students struggle with social relationships especially romantic ones complicated by an increase in the level of academic output required. Basically, stress can be viewed as a normal bodily response to harmful events that threatens one’s physiological and psychological balance. The excess academic workload, not only in terms of courses and credits pursued but also the level of thinking and mental output, causes and increases student stress. Additionally, the pressure to succeed placed on students especially by parents and instructors can also be very overwhelming and stressful for students who have to expend greater effort that destabilize their lives.
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"Student Stress".
Lack of concentration in class or missing class altogether indicates one of the major effects of student stress which ultimately lead to academic failure. Stress leads to effects such as blood pressure increase, tense muscles as well as a heightened state of alertness that leads to loss of sleep, among others. In students, these effects can lead to negative physical outcomes like stomach upsets as well as mental ones like burnout, restlessness, anxiety and depression, as identified by Smith, Segal & Segal (2012). Unfortunately, when stress accumulates to high levels without release, the student may engage in negative behaviors, which Macleod et al. (2004) avers as including angry outburst, intellectual and social withdrawal and sometime turn to substance abuse.
In summary, it is evident that student stress has the potential to distract students from greater academic achievements which implies that all stakeholders involved should understand and help students deal with stress. This is especially due to the associated negative outcomes which include negative behaviors like intellectual and social withdrawal and substance abuse that ultimately lead to academic failure. Fundamentally, the identified causes include interpersonal stressors like social relationships as well as academic-oriented challenges such as excess academic workload, among other factors.
- Macleod, J.O.R. et al. (2004). Psychological and social sequelae of cannabis and other illicit drug
use by young people: A systematic review of longitudinal, general population studies. The Lancet, 363: 1579−1588. - Rudolph, K.D., & Hammen, C. (1999). Age and gender as determinants of stress exposure, generation, and reactions in youngsters: A transactional perspective. Child Development, 70: 660–677
- Smith, M., Segal, R. & Segal, J. (2012). Understanding stress: Symptoms, signs, causes, and effects. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm
