Predictors of Academic Anxiety among Secondary School Students

Background: Academic anxiety is a feeling of worry, tension, or dread that's related to schoolwork, exams, assignments, or subjects. It can also be caused by social pressures from peers or parents, or by feeling uneasy about studying or working in groups. Academic anxiety is a prevalent issue that students must address to achieve academic success. It becomes a critical problem requiring immediate attention when it intensifies to the point where a student can no longer function productively. While feelings of anxiety are not inherently abnormal, they can become so severe in some individuals that they impair day-to-day functioning, potentially leading to the diagnosis of one or more anxiety disorders. This investigation focuses on identifying the factors that trigger academic anxiety among students. The pressure of competition is particularly evident during adolescence, especially when students transition to secondary school. At this stage, streams such as science and non-science are often allocated based on students' preferences and academic performance in previous classes. Science students frequently aspire to pursue engineering or medical courses after secondary schooling, while arts students aim for admission to prestigious colleges and universities. The intense competition for admission to these programs can heighten anxiety levels. Recognizing the impact of this issue, the researcher has sought to explore the various factors contributing to academic anxiety among secondary school students and to identify strategies for reducing it to manageable levels. Aim: The study aimed to determine the influence of intelligence, study habits, socio economic status and school environment on academic anxiety of total sample, male & female samples. Method & Procedure: A Descriptive research design was adopted and subsequently stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select 677 students from both science and non-science streams were chosen for the present investigation. Results: The results of the present investigation have revealed that personal factors like intelligence, study habits familial factors like Socio-Economic Status and institutional factors like school environment have a significant impact on academic anxiety among all sampling groups under study.