CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Academic performance and learning are
usually affected by factors like gender, age, teaching staff, parents’
socioeconomic status students study hours and the condition of the
learning environment. Anything which poses some kind of threat and
challenges either physically or mentally upon us is known as stress. We
use the word stress in such conditions when we feel it’s too much. We
start to think either we will be able to handle the workload or
situation (Nordqvist 2009). Stress is a reality which we have to face in
our everyday life. There are situations when we start to feel ourselves
out of help and start to disturb emotionally and other stressors. Many
people consider stress as an incident happen to them such as injury or
job loss (Centre 2010). Others think stress is some kind of changes
which happen to our physical body, behavior and mind or over thoughts
about situation.
School students have been found to have
high prevalence of mental health problems across the country. In
Chhattisgarh state had limited resources for mental health treatment,
counseling or alternative interventions to help students and manage
their level of depression, stress and academic anxiety (Pandey, 2016).
There have been few mental health studies found in regional context; so
to bridge the gap and find out the relationship among anxiety,
depression, and stress with academic achievement. Many factors
influenced students’ academic performance. Research have documented a
number of inputs that have impact on students academic achievement these
include classroom environment (Sharma, Mitra & Jha, 2015), teacher
support. Certain characteristics of the students and their family are
also important, including parents education. Present study focusing on
another aspect that influence academic achievement that is, anxiety,
stress and depression.
Psychological models focus on the
concept of perceived stress, which refers to interactions between an
environmental precipitant (external stress); the physiological reactions
of the body (distress); and a person’s cognitive, emotional, and
behavioral response to this interaction. Stress is perceived when an
external event causes aversive physiological and cognitive distress in
an individual that exceeds his or her emotional and behavioral
repertoire designed to negate the harmful effects of external stressors.
The conceptualization of perceived stress allows for consideration that
certain individuals may possess resources, such as coping, that allow
them to experience external stress without experiencing compromised
functioning. In recent years, this transactional perspective of stress
(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) has been regarded as the most widely
accepted definition of stress (Grant et al., 2003; Hess & Copeland,
2006).
While entrance to a university or other
tertiary education institutions is a joyous time, it can be a stressful
life event for some students (Wong et al., 2006). First-year students
are particularly at-risk as they face a number of new stressors during
the transitional period of starting a new life in university or college
(Voelker, 2003). Just as all young adults, undergraduate students need
to cope not only with psychological and psychosocial changes that are
connected to the development of an autonomous personal life but also
with the academic and social demands that they encounter in university
studies in their preparation for professional careers. Therefore, the
period of undergraduate education is a sensitive period in an
individual’s life span, and this period is regarded by many as important
for developing systems and intervention methods that may prevent or
reduce mental problems (Gjerde, 1993).
Evidence that suggests that university
students are vulnerable to mental health problems has generated
increased public concern in many societies. Previous studies suggest
high rates of psychological morbidity, especially depression and
anxiety, among university students all over the world found that among
college students seeking counselling services, anxiety and depression
were ranked first and third as presenting problems, respectively
academic and work-related concerns were ranked second as the presenting
problem. Brackney and Karabenick (1995) noted that high levels of
distress, concomitant with limited coping resources, render students
less able to meet academic demands. Unfortunately, college counsellors
are stretched very thin, thereby providing treatment for anxiety and
depression-related complaints. Romano and Hage (2000) suggested the
importance of integrative theoretical models that would better allow for
the prevention of psychological difficulties. Increasing interest in
positive psychology coupled with the factors that constitute wellness
fit well with this type of prevention program, but models describing the
psychological resources protecting college students from anxiety and
depression seems to be lacking (Dahlin et al., 2005). Psychological
distress may result in withdrawal from study as first-year students were
found to be twice as likely to drop out as their counterparts in the
second and third years Adlaf et al. (2001) found a prominent inverse
relationship between year of study and mental health in university
students, those at greatest risk being first-year students.
Psychological morbidity in undergraduate students represents neglected
public health problem and holds major implications for campus health
services and mental policy-making In terms of life quality,
understanding the impact of this neglected public health phenomenon on
one’s educational attainment and prospective occupational success is
very important. Conclusively, stress and mental health are associated
with each other and are related to life quality, which is diminished if
an individual perceives stress or lacks mental health.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Mental health problem is regarded as one
of factors that affect students’ ability to attend classes, focus in
class during lectures, and study effectively. Mental disorders may
hinder motivation and/or induce feelings of discouragement and
hopelessness. When careful attention is not adequately paid, students
with mental health diagnoses are more likely to receive lower grade than
their peers without such challenges. Stress and anxiety among
university students have major impacts, not only with psychological
wellbeing that will have adverse effects on students’ health,
development, educational achievement and quality of life, but also the
deteriorating influence on their own families, institutions and even on
other people’s lives. College counselors could play an important
preventative role be considering anxiety symptoms as a potential warning
sign for depression. This research therefore sought to investigate the
relationship between stress, mental health and academic performance
using students of Nasarawa state university Keffi as a case study.
1.3 Research Questions
The following are some of the questions which this study intends to answer:
i) what is the
prevalence of stress and mental health on academic performance of
students of Nasarawa state university Keffi?
ii) what are the factors
that bring about stress and mental health on academic performance of
students of Nasarawa state university Keffi?
iii) what the other
effects of stress and mental health on academic performance of students
of Nasarawa state university Keffi?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study the
relationship between stress, mental health and academic performance of
students of Nasarawa state university Keffi. The specific objectives
were:
i) to analyse
prevalence of stress and mental health on academic performance of
students of Nasarawa state university Keffi
ii) to investigate the
factors that bring about stress and mental health on academic
performance of students of Nasarawa state university Keffi
iii) to inquire the
effects of stress and mental health on academic performance of students
of Nasarawa state university Keffi
1.5 Research Hypothesis
The research hypotheses to be tested include:
i) there is significant relationship between stress and academic performance
ii) there is a significant correlation between mental health and academic performance
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study would benefit parents and
university students by helping them to discover the effects of stress on
their mental health and how this affects their academic performance and
enable the parents to discover the different methods for approaching
stress and mental health on their children. It will also contribute to
academic work in the area of clinical and physiological psychology.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study covered the students of of
Nasarawa state university Keffi and was because they were being used as
the case study for carrying out the research work.
1.8 Limitation of the study
The researcher was not faced with
only the challenge of time and was because the time for carrying out
this study clashed with the school calendar of the researcher and this
proved difficult as the researcher had to forgo lectures to carry out
this study.
1.9 Definitions of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Academic performance:
This refers to the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has
achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School and Bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.
Mental health:
This includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It
affects how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life.
Stress: This is the
feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure, and
pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope.