ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1631136
This article is part of the Research TopicInterdisciplinary Approaches to Enhancing Child and Adolescent Mental Health in SchoolsView all 6 articles
Academic Stress in Adolescents: Findings from a School-Based Study in Belagavi District
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, Belgaum, India
- 2Department of Public Health, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, Belgaum, India
- 3Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, Belgaum, India
- 4Departmennt Of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, KLE University, BELAGAVI, India
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Background: Academic stress has emerged as a significant risk factor for mental health development during adolescence. Schools have a considerable influence on adolescents' development, but increasing academic pressures and social expectations have caused students to experience higher levels of stress, impacting their mental health and overall development. Objective: To assess academic stress levels and the factors associated with it among students aged 13–15 years in Belagavi district, Karnataka. Methods: A school-based survey was conducted among 1,426 students from four CBSEschools using universal sampling. Data were collected from July to September 2023. The Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) was used to measure academic stress. Statistical analysis involved Chi-square tests, Fisher's exact test, and independent t-tests. Results: Among the 1,426 students, 74% reported high levels of academic stress, with 17% reporting medium levels. Academic stress levels were significantly associated with age (p = 0.027), area (p = 0.000), father's education (p = 0.023), and gender (p = 0.001). Male students experienced significantly higher stress levels in study pressure, grade-related anxiety, self-expectation, and self-despondency (p < 0.05). Female students experienced slightly higher stress related to workload, though this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Academic stress is prevalent among students and is significantly influenced by various sociodemographic variables.
Keywords: Academic stress, adolescents, School, Students, India, educational stress, ESSA
Received: 19 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Haritay, Angolkar, Koparde, Oswal and Carvalho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shivani Haritay, shivaniharitay@gmail.com
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