A study of high school students\u27 perceptions of school stress, coping resources and stress responses

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between students\u27 perceptions of school stress, students\u27 beliefs regarding available coping resources, their stress responses and GPA scores. Differences were also examined by gender and earned credit class status. Four hundred regular education students completed The School Situation Survey (SSS) and The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI). The SSS measured sources of stress (teacher interactions, academic self-concept, peer interactions, and academic stress) and students\u27 stress responses (emotional, behavioral, and physiological). The CRI measured students\u27 beliefs regarding coping resources. Two sources of stress, academic self-concept and peer interactions, were significantly negatively correlated with CRI measurements of students\u27 coping resources. One source of stress, teacher interactions, was positively correlated with stress response subscores. Positive significant correlations were found between academic stress and emotional stress response subscores, and between emotional and physiological stress response subscores. GPA scores were significantly negatively correlated with behavior stress response subscores as well as two sources of stress, teacher interactions and academic self-concept. Significant differences existed between students\u27 perceptions of stress from teacher interactions and academic self-concept by earned credit class status. Sources of stress teacher interactions and academic self-concept classification levels were not independent of earned class credit status. Significant gender differences were found for stress from teacher interactions, academic stress, and stress responses. Reported stress from teacher interactions and academic stress were not independent of gender. Likewise, sources of stress, teacher interactions and academic self-concept were significant covariates in examined differences in GPA scores by gender. As secondary educators attempt to restructure learning environments, it seems critical that they take students\u27 perceptions of school stress and their beliefs regarding coping resources into account when new pedagogical strategies, programs and services are developed and implemented