Thought behind this journal

Keeping in view the Philosophy of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati ji, BCM College moves ahead with the mission to create through education a valuable asset to the nation in the form of talented and dedicated teachers who can help in the all round and homogeneous development of their students through 3 H’S (Head, Heart and Hand); 3 R’S (Reading, Rhetoric and Writing); and 5 C’S (Contact, Communicate, Compete, Culture and Character) We have the mission to develop the intellectual and creative faculties of our pupil teachers to enable them not only to with stand the changes in the field of education but also to lead by innovative initiatives. for the achievement of our mission research culture of the institute plays a vital role to achieve this mission ,So bcm college has taken initiative and launched its e-journal under the guidance of

Sh.Staya Nand Munjal ji(President)

Sh.S.K.Mehta (Secretary )

Sh.R.B Khanna,(Executive member)

Dr.Khushvinder kumar (Principal)

We hope and strongly believe, this will nurture research culture among creative and critical minds of teaching community, budding researchers and the ignited minds of our students.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

STUDY OF MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS IN RELATION TO ACADEMIC STRESS

STUDY OF MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS IN RELATION TO ACADEMIC STRESS
Manisha, M.Ed. (Student) BCM College of Education, Ludhiana
Mrs. Monika Sethi (Lecturer) BCM College of Education, Ludhiana
monisharattan@gmail.com
monikasethi840@gmail.com
Abstract
The present study was undertaken to study the Mental Health of Adolescents in relation to Academic Stress. For this investigation, descriptive study was conducted. Mental Health Battery by Singh, Arun Kumar & Gupta, Alpana Sen (2005) and Academic Stress Scale by Dr. Abha Rani Bisht (1992) was used to measure the Mental Health and Academic Stress of the Adolescents. Investigator found that there is no significant difference in the Mental Health of Male and Female Adolescents except for the dimensions of Emotional Stability and Security-Insecurity and there is no significant difference is in the Academic Stress of Male and Female Adolescents. No relationship was found between the Mental Health and Academic Stress of Male and Female Adolescents.
Keywords- Mental Health, Academic Stress, Adolescents of Government Schools
 INTRODUCTION
In this fast changing world of stress, strain and anxiety, the self of a person is in danger. This is truer of an adolescent who is in a very tender age. As adolescents are the vital part of country, they have a great responsibility. It is rightly said that youth can make or mar the future of the nation. Youth is the backbone of society. They are full of vigor and enthusiasm, but if they are not properly guided and educated, they can prove to be a disaster. This period is most critical period of one’s life because this period is the end of one stage and the beginning of another. It is no wonder that this time is widely regarded as the most turbulent period of life which in turn may develop the feelings and workless ness and lack of confidence which leads to stress specifically in academics and may affect their Mental Health. The present study helps to know how the Mental Health of Adolescents is affected by the Academic Stress.
 MENTAL HEALTH
The expression Mental Health consists of two words: Mental and Health. The ‘Mental’ generally means something more than purely cerebral functioning of a person. ‘Health’ generally means sound condition or well being or freedom from disease. Mental Health therefore means a sound mental; condition or state of psychological well being of freedom from mental disease. Mental Health as defined by kornhauser (1985) connotates those behaviours, perceptions and feelings that determine a person’s overall level of personal effectiveness, success, happiness and excellence of functioning as a person. Taak (1999) conducted a study on ‘Mental Health as a  function of Age, Sex and Area’ and found that there is no significant difference between the Mental Health of boys and girls of same age group. Kaur (2004) in her study ‘Social Intelligence as related to Mental Health’ found that there exist a significant relation between Mental Health and different dimensions of  Social Intelligence Poonamdeep (2004) in her study ‘Effect of Academic stress on Mental Health, Self-Concept and Academic Achievement of sec. school students’ found that Academic Stress does not affect the Mental Health of students.Kapoor, N. (2009) in her study ‘A study of Mental Health of Adolescents in relation to Adjustment’ found that Mental Health of Adolescents is positively related with their Adjustment
ACADEMIC STRESS
Stress is a word derived from the Latin word stringere, meaning to draw tight, and was used in the seventeenth century to describe hardship and affliction. During the late eighteenth century (as Hinkle records), stress denoted force, pressure, strain, or strong effort referring primarily to an individual, or to the individual's organs or mental powers. Thus academic stress is the stress aroused because of academic pressure. Gupta and Khan (1987) defined Academic stress is a mental distress with respect to some anticipated frustration associated with academic failure or even an awareness of possibility of such failure. Endler et. al, 1994; Chona, (1995) stated Stress makes a significant contribution to the prediction of subsequent performances and acts as a negative predictor of academic performance in school children. Kaur (2000) in a study “Academic Achievement and Self-esteem of IX graders in relation to different dimensions of Academic Stress” concluded that Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students was different under High, Average and Low academic stress conditions. Archana (2004) in her study ‘Effect of Academic Stress on Mental Health and Self-esteem of secondary school students.’ concluded that the variable of Academic Stress and Health were found to be correlated and found that there is high Stress in Science students than Commerce students. Ghadheri, AR, Kumar and Kumar (2009) conducted a study ‘Anxiety and stress among the Indian and Iranian students’ and found that there are no gender difference observed. Male and female students equally experience the Depression, Anxiety and irrespective of countries. Kaur, R. (2009) in her study ‘A study of Academic Achievement of adolescents relation to Academic Stress.’ and concluded that no significant correlation was found between academic achievement and academic stress of adolescents.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
o        To study the relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of adolescents.
o        To study the relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of male adolescents.
o        To study the relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of female adolescents.
HYPOTHESES:- After going through the related literature, the researcher formulate the following hypotheses for the present study:
Ho 1.    There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of adolescents.
Ho 2.    There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of male adolescents.
Ho.3    There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of  female adolescents.

Methodology:- Tools used: In present study, following tools were employed to collect data:
1.        Mental Health Battery by Singh, Arun Kumar & Gupta, Alpana Sen (2005)
2.        Academic Stress Scale by Dr. Abha Rani Bisht.1992 for measuring Academic Stress.
 SAMPLE
Thus sample is a small representation of a larger whole. The researcher selected each unit in a specified way. In the present study, a sample of 200 Adolescent students, who were the students of Xth class, were randomly selected from four Government Schools of Ludhiana on the basis of gender.
 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
Karl Pearson Correlation was applied for determining coefficient of correlation.
Analysis and Interpretation of Data
The data collected during investigation was computed to apply the parametric statistical methods.
CORRELATION BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND ACADEMIC STRESS
Variables
N
r
Mental Health
200
-0.052ns
Academic Stress
200

Not significant at 0.05 level
df=198
Table reveals that coefficient of correlation between the scores of Mental Health and Academic Stress of Adolescents is -0.052, which is negative but significantly less than the table value of coefficient of correlation 0.138 at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore it can be concluded that there does not exist significant correlation between Mental Health and Academic stress of Adolescents. Hence, hypothesis 3 which states “There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of Adolescents” is not rejected.
CORRELATION BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND ACADEMIC STRESS OF MALE ADOLESCENTS AND FEMALE ADOLESCENTS
Variables
N
r(male)
r(female)
Mental Health
100
-0.143ns
0.043
Academic Stress
100

Not significant at 0.05 level
df=98
Table reveals that coefficient of correlation between the scores of Mental Health and Academic Stress of Male Adolescents is -0.143, which is negative but significantly less than the table value of coefficient of correlation 0.195 at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore it can be concluded that there does not exist significant correlation between Mental Health and Academic stress of Male Adolescents. Hence, hypothesis 4 which states “There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of  male Adolescents” is not rejected. Table reveals that coefficient of correlation between the scores of Mental Health and Academic Stress of Female Adolescents is 0.043, which is significantly less than the table value of coefficient of correlation 0.195 at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore it can be concluded that there does not exist significant correlation between Mental Health and Academic stress of Female Adolescents. Hence, hypothesis 5 which states “There will be no significant relationship between Mental Health and Academic Stress of female Adolescents” is not rejected
CONCLUSIONS
 The main findings reveals that there no significant relationship between the Mental Health and Academic Stress of Male Adolescents. Also, No significant relationship is found between the Mental Health and Academic Stress of Female Adolescents
REFRENCES
Anand,S.P. (1988). RCE Mental Health Scale. Indian Educational Review, 23(1), 41-47. NCERT
Archana (2004). Effect of Academic Stress on Mental Health and Self-esteem of secondary school students.(M.Ed. Dissertation) Panjab University, Chandigarh
Ghaderi, AR, Venkatesh Kumar, G. and Sampath Kumar (2009), Anxiety and stress among the Indian and Iranian students. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, Jan 2009, Vol-1, 33-37.
Kapoor, N. (2009). A study of mental health of adolescents in relation to Adjustment (M.Ed. Dissertation) Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Kaur (2004).Social Intelligence as relate to Mental Health (M.Ed. Dissertation) Panjab University, Chandigarh
Kaur, K(2000) Academic Achievement and Self-esteem of IX graders in relation to different dimensions of Academic stress( M.Ed. Dissertation) Panjab University, Chandigarh
Kaur, R. (2009).A study of academic achievement of adolescents in relation to academic stress. ( M.Ed dissertation ). Panjab University Chandigarh..
Kornhauser, A.(1985) Mental Health of the Industrial Worker: A Detroit study; New York; Wiley.
Lakshminarayanan, T.R. and Prabhakaran, P. (1993).Comparison of Mental Health among  the different age groups of Industrial Employees. Journal of Psychological Researches, 30(3), 30-34
Poonamdeep (2005). Effect of Academic Stress on Mental Health, self concept and Academic Achievement of secondary school students (M.Ed. Dissertation).Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Taak (1999).Mental Health as a function of Age, Sex and Area.(M.Ed. Dissertation) Panjab University Chandigarh.
Posted by at