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The Relationship between Study Anxiety and Academic Performance among Engineering Students

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  • University College of Poly-Tech MARA Kuala Lumpur

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Anxiety is one of the major predictors of academic performance. Students with anxiety disorder display a passive attitude in their studies such as lack of interest in learning, poor performance in exams, and on assignments. This research observes the relationship between study anxiety level and students’ academic performance. The test to find out a significant correlation of anxiety and academic performance was has carried out among engineering students. A total 205 males and females student participated in this test. They were second year students from four engineering faculties at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP). The study anxiety level was measured using State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Meanwhile, students’ academic performance was measured using Grade Point Average (GPA). The results showed that there was a significant correlation of high level anxiety and low academic performance among engineering students, with significant correlation (p=0.000) and the correlation coefficient is small with r=-.264. Large of sample size required to strengthen the coefficient correlation was suggested for further research.
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Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
A
vailable online at www.sciencedirect.com
International Conference on Mathematics Education Research 2010 (ICMER 2010)
The Relationship between Study Anxiety and Academic
Performance among Engineering Students
Prima Vitasari
a,
*, Muhammad Nubli Abdul Wahab
b
, Ahmad Othman
c
,
Tutut Herawan
d
, Suriya Kumar Sinnadurai
e
a,c
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang
eb
Center of Modern Language and Human Science, Universiti Malaysia Pahang
d
Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
Abstract
Anxiety is one of the major predictors of academic performance. Students with anxiety disorder display a passive attitude in their
studies such as lack of interest in learning, poor performance in exams, and on assignments. This research observes the
relationship between study anxiety level and students’ academic performance. The test to find out a significant correlation of
anxiety and academic performance was has carried out among engineering students. A total 205 males and females student
participated in this test. They were second year students from four engineering faculties at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP).
The study anxiety level was measured using State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Meanwhile, students’ academic performance
was measured using Grade Point Average (GPA). The results showed that there was a significant correlation of high level anxiety
and low academic performance among engineering students, with significant correlation (p=0.000) and the correlation coefficient
is small with r=-.264. Large of sample size required to strengthen the coefficient correlation was suggested for further research.
© 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Study anxiety; Academic performance; Student
1. Introduction
Anxiety is a subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with arousal of the
nervous system (Spielberger, 1983). The high level of anxiety causes a persons normal life being difficult such as
interfered activities and social life. Anxiety is one of the wide varieties of emotional and behaviour disorders
(Rachel and Chidsey, 2005). Students with anxiety disorder exhibit a passive attitude in their studies such as lack of
interest in learning, poor performance in exams, and do poorly on assignments. The anxiety’s psychological
symptoms among students include feeling nervous before a tutorial class, panicking, going blank during a test,
feeling helpless while doing assignments, or lack interest in a difficult subject whereas the physiological symptoms
include sweaty palms, cold, nervousness, panic, fast pace of breathing, racing heartbeat, or an upset stomach
(Ruffins, 2007). The prevalence of anxiety among university students has been acknowledgement by students and
educators. However, study anxiety is a real phenomena, the importance of study anxiety is particularly related to the
sources of anxiety and how to handle them.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 60-1-7706-7278
E-mail address: primavitasari@yahoo.com.
1877-0428 © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.067
Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
491
Anxiety while studying is a major predictor of academic performance (McCraty, 2007 and McCraty, et al., 2000)
and various studies have demonstrated that it has a detrimental effect. Little is known that there exist a possible
association between high level of anxiety and low academic performance among students. Researchers revealed that
high levels of anxiety influence on the decrease of working memory, distraction, and reasoning in students (Aronen
et al., 2005). Tobias in Ibrahim (1996) has been recognised that anxiety plays significant role in student's learning
and academic performance, moreover anxiety has been known to have both facilitating and debilitating effects on
academic achievement. Researchers have been looking at the correlation of anxiety and the effect of academic
performance among school students, they found that among high school students with higher level of anxiety have
lower academic performance (McCraty, 2007) and greater anxiety would be associated with poorer academic
achievement (Luigi et al., 2007).
Students with high level of anxiety have a reduced memory span, lose concentration, and lack confidence, and poor
reasoning power. The element can be described as anger and regret in engineering students when feel anxiety in
difficult situations related with their study. Generally, high level of anxiety was more closely associated with lower
performance among low ability students (Sena et al., 2007).
However, this research considers identifying the
correlation of study anxiety and academic performance in the university level. The rest of this paper is organized as
follows. Section 2 describes definition of anxiety, and study anxiety upon academic performance. Section 3
describes the research method. Section 4 describes the result and discussion. The conclusion of this work is
described in section 5.
2. Anxiety
Definition of anxiety was presented to describe of anxiety relate with students’ experience during study, namely
study anxiety, and study anxiety effect on academic performance display theories consider with relationship of
anxiety and performance. These were explained below
2.1. Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the psychophysiology difficulties (Callahan, 2001). The symptoms can be psychological physical
or environmental challenges. There are various forms of anxiety which includes excessive worrying, a sense of fear,
restlessness, overly emotional responses, and negative thinking. Some people when anxious they appear to be clam,
but the brain never stops thinking. This will get so bad as well as interrupt the quality of life. Experts have many
definitions to describe anxiety. Breuer (1999) mentioned that all anxiety disorders are defined by the dual
characteristics of excessive emotional fear and physiologic hyper arousals. Sarason in Harris et al. (2003) defined
that anxiety is a basic human emotion consisting of apprehension and uncertainty that typically appears when an
individual perceives an occurrence as being a threat to the ego or self-esteem. In its conceptualization, individuals
with high levels of anxiety generally hold heightened levels of trait anxiety, but in evaluative situations, the state of
anxiety also elevates. Definition of anxiety by Spielberger’s (1995) is emotional state consisting of feeling, tension,
apprehension, and its effects on the nervous system. These are differentiated in state and trait anxiety. State anxiety
is transitory emotional state reflective of one’s interpretation of a particular stressful situation at a particular period
of time or at that moment feeling. However trait anxiety is the enduring personality characteristic which refers to
relatively stable individual differences that characterizes people’s anxiety or general feeling of anxiety (Spielberger,
1983). Spielberger’s theory of anxiety has led to understanding the concept of anxiety. A person who has a certain
level of anxiety has been found to be a facilitative tool for an individual to perform ineffectively. The combination
of feeling anxiety can lead to interference with performance through mind blocking, attention resources, more
cognitive interference, worries and fears induced by anxiety.
According to the previous study about anxiety among students, the study anxiety is a specific-situation that refers to
anxiety conditions that are experienced during study process and could be disturbance of academic performance.
Study anxiety has two dimensions include physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety.
2.2. Study Anxiety upon Academic Performance
492 Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
The anxiety perspective and academic performance is adopted from Catastrophe theory which explains about the
relationship of anxiety and performance in terms of sport performance. It is important to understand the theory and
the influence of anxiety upon performance. Martin in Robb (2005) proposed that cognitive anxiety would have
negative correlation with performance and physiological anxiety have curvilinear relationship with performance.
The cognitive anxiety is the component that most strongly affects performance (Ingugiro, 1999; Robb, 2005).
According to Fazey and Hardy (1988) cites cognitive anxiety has a positive relationship with performance when
physiological arousal is low. Researcher demonstrated that students with higher level of anxiety tend to obtain lower
marks in their end-of-semester examination (Hamzah, 2007). Researcher has been conducted to see the correlation
of anxiety and the influence of academic achievement, student with high anxiety levels would have lower academic
achievement among high school students (McCraty, 2007). Others expressed the opinion that the high level of
anxiety will be associated with low academic performance (Luigi et al., 2007, and Sena et al., 2007). Similarity
result find, a fair number of previous studies have found a significant relationship between academic achievement
and anxiety (Diaz et al. in El-Anzi, 2005), a positive relationship between high degrees of academic achievement
and low anxiety (El-Anzi, 2005). Figure 1 displays theoretical model of study anxiety upon academic performance
as follows
Figure 1: Theoretical model of study anxiety upon academic performance
University students have a responsibility to maintain their optimal academic performance. Anxiety among students
are created by insensible teaching or an over demanding syllabus. This then pushes students towards the surface
approach as a coping strategy, stress and anxiety due to personal or family related problems also leads to a feeling of
anxiety (Mayya et al., 2004). It is common for students to perform poorly when they experience pressure with their
tasks and when they experience high level of anxiety during their studies. There are many sources of created anxiety
during study, according to Guerrero (1990) anxiety sources can be interpreted on difference age level, social class,
high activity, greater familiarity, gender, and culture ecosystem. Under certain circumstances, actually anxiety can
help us to evaluate and mobilize resources in order to improve performance in some tasks. Therefore, study anxiety
should be taken seriously. This relationship also could possibly lead to reaction of anxiety that interferes with
students’ performance through blocks of memory, concentration, attention resources, or cognitive interference from
the worries and fears induced by anxiety during their study.
The anxiety is measured by state and trait (STAI) instrument, which means that high scores of state and trait
determines high level in cognitive anxiety
(Spielberger, 1983). Academic performance is a significant issue in the
university. Previous studies observed that academic performance are influenced by personal efforts, time
management, peer interaction, environment, campus facilities, completion of assignments, class attendance, tutorial
services, study groups, and teaching style (Sansgiry et al., 2006). However, Carroll and Garavalia (2004) explained
that successful academic performance depends on effective studying and motivational strategies. Psychophysiology
difficulties do also affect the performance of students academic (Stephen, 2001; McCraty, 2007; Gomes, 2002),
Poor academic performance is defined by diagnosis of learning disability or students who failed multiple academic
subjects (Janet et al., 1987). Learning difficulties will create students’ anxiety of feeling discomfort, which means
that feeling anxious in the classroom does not improve learning. Besides, Soler in (2005) observed that students who
Physiological
arousal
Study
anxiety
Cognitive anxiety
Academic
performance
Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
493
felt satisfied and had low levels of anxiety achieved a higher academic performance. Therefore, anxiety has been
regarded as the most significant factors in determining students’ achievement in academic performance.
3. Method
3.1. Participants
The population in this study are engineering undergraduate at Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Students who have low
academic performance received test to measure their anxiety level. A total 205 students with low academic
performance were participating in this test, Students receive STAI for measuring anxiety level. Sample in this study
was the low students’ academic performance with GPA < 2.51 and high level of anxiety with STAI > 80.
Figure 2: Sample selection procedure
3.2. Measurement
The instrument was validated for reliability and validity test. Nunnally (1978) recommends that instruments used in
basic research have a reliability value of about 0.70 is better. Validity test interpreted by inter correlation of items
according to (Sekaran, 2003) should be 0.30. The questionnaire was confirmed of reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha
yielded 0.934).
State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
This instrument has forty items of questions with two subscales: The S-Anxiety scale (STAI Form Y-1) consists of
twenty statements that evaluate how respondents’ feel about anxiety currently, at this moment”. The standard test
form is to the write on each item-statement that best describes the intensity of their feelings: (1) not at all; (2)
somewhat; (3) moderately so; (4) very much so. In responding to the T-anxiety scale (STAI Form Y-2) consists of
twenty statements that assess how people “generally feel” about anxiety with four point scale: (1) almost never; (2)
sometimes; (3) often; (4) almost always. The STAI is documented of reliability and validity test which had yielded
0.923. An example of state question “I am presently worrying over possible misfortunes” the question was assessed
four points with very much so. An example of trait question “I worry too much over something that really doesn’t
matter” the question was assessed on four points with almost always. High score reflect high level of anxiety. The
instruments was established for reliability and validity test (Spielberger, 1983).
Ump students
Test of anxiety level by
STAI to find out students’
high anxiety level
Selection of
each
engineering
faculty to find
out students’
low academic
performance
2
nd
year
engineering
students
A total 205
students’ low
academic
performance
494 Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
Grade Point Average (GPA)
Grade Point Average (GPA) is to measure students’ academic performance, this was found from faculty’s
document. The classification found from any university in Malaysia to justify the academic performance level
includes low is 2.50; moderate is within the range 2.50 < GPA > 3.67; high is 3.67. The interpretation of STAI
and GPA level are presented in Table 1 as follows.
Table 1: Interpretation of STAI and GPA level
STAI’s score
GPA
Interpretation
80 > STAI
2.50>GPA
Low
80 < STAI
2.50<GPA
High
3.3. Procedure
The test aimed to find the relationship of study anxiety and academic performance among engineering students.
Immediately participants giving a test, testing also aims to select trainees who have been identified in high anxiety
and low academic performance were to participate in this training. The participants came to the lab and fill in the
questionnaire include the S-Anxiety scale (STAI Form Y-1) and T-Anxiety scale (STAI Form Y-1). The STAI has
40 items of question and took approximately 20 minutes to complete. The students first read and answered if they
had problems the researcher will guide students to answer the questions. This test was based on the faculty, after two
weeks who have high levels of anxiety and low academic performance were offered to participate in this study.
Result of the test was used to find out correlation between anxiety and academic performance.
3.4. Data Analysis
The relationship of high level anxiety upon academic performance was examined by Pearson correlation. The
correlation measured for normal distribution of data. The significant coefficient and coefficient of correlation are
examined to find out the results.
4. Results and Discussion
The results presents for demographic of participants, also results and discussion. The finding show significant
correlation of high study anxiety and low academic performance. The findings display below
4.1 Demographic of participants
A total 205 student were invited to test their anxiety level that was aimed to examine the relationship of study
anxiety and academic performance. Students from the second year of study were randomly selected for the study.
The participant's age ranged from 18 to 26 and they were from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds as
indicated by self report. A total 109 female students were achieving low academic performance and 96 male
students with low academic performance. Students from four faculties were involved in the tests with 84 students
from Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering (FCNRE), 46 students Faculty of Civil Engineering
and Earth Resources (FCEER), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FME) yield 19 students, and Faculty of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering (FEEE) was 56 students. The demography profile of participants is presented
in Table 1as follows
Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
495
Table 1: Demographic of Participants
Demographic info
Frequency
Percentage
Gender
1. Male
2. Female
96
109
46.8%
53.2%
Faculty
1. FCNRE
2. FCEER
3. FME
4. FEE
84
46
19
56
41%
22.4%
9.3%
27.2%
Age
1. 18 20
2. 21 23
3. 24 26
70
120
15
34.2%
58.5%
7.3%
4.2 The Relationship of Study Anxiety and Academic Performance
The Pearson correlation examines the relationship between study anxiety and academic performance. The result
show mean and standard deviation of STAI (M=95.53; SD=12.008) and GPA (M=2.18; SD=0.250), a significant
correlation (p=0.000), the correlation coefficient is small with r=-.264, and finally the sample size yield
n=205.Study anxiety is negatively related to academic performance with a Person correlation coefficient was small.
Nonetheless, the result proven that students who have high anxiety levels achieve low academic performance with
anxiety level > 95 and academic performance < 2.50. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a significant
relationship between high level anxiety and low academic performance among engineering students.
Consistently result with previous studies found a negative correlation between high levels of anxiety and low
academic performance (Soler, 2005 and McCraty, 2007). In otherwise, El-Anzi (2005) describes a positive
relationship between high degrees of academic achievement and low anxiety. Small of coefficient correlation is
linked with the small of sample size yield seventy participants. Others expressed the opinion that the high level of
anxiety will be associated with low academic performance (Luigi et al., 2007, and Sena et al., 2007). The finding
support with McCraty (2000) where anxiety plays significant role in student's learning and academic performance,
moreover it was revealed that a high facilitating achievement anxiety was related to low debilitating achievement
anxiety. Similar statement cites to support the finding a fair number of engineering students that there are many
situations which it is appropriate and reasonable to counter with some anxiety. That they may not find jobs in the
future, express these feelings with ambivalence, confusion, lack of confidence and worry (Ercan et al., 2008).
Researchers generally agree that high level anxiety will construct of low academic performance. Table 4 present the
finding as follows
Table 4: Results of Correlation between Anxiety and Academic Performance
Measures
Mean
SD
r
p
STAI
95.53
12.008
GPA
2.18
0.250
STAI-GPA
0.264
0.000
Note. p < 0.01.
496 Prima Vitasari et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 490–497
5. Conclusion
Previous studies demonstrated that students with higher level of anxiety tend to obtain lower marks in their end-of-
semester examination. Anxiety while studying is a major predictor of academic performance (McCraty, 2007 and
McCraty, et al., 2000) and various studies have demonstrated that it has a detrimental effect. Engineering student
has many situations which it is appropriate and reasonable to counter with some anxiety. Therefore, study anxiety
should be investigated for engineering students. The result shows a significant correlation between study anxiety and
academic performance. Students who have high level anxiety achieve low academic performance. These findings
support previous research that high level of anxiety brings about lower academic performance (Sena et al., 2007 and
Luigi et al., 2007). High anxiety also predicts that student has low ability to study. High score of STAI indicates that
students who have a higher score in anxiety achieve low GPA. For further research it is suggested found large of
sample size to strengthen the coefficient correlation.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported under the research grant Vote Number 070144, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia.
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... Notably, the impact of test anxiety is particularly pronounced in second language acquisition, a domain where learners are frequently tasked with demonstrating their linguistic and cognitive abilities under pressure, such as in translation tasks. Research indicates that anxiety significantly affects cognitive processing in a second language, and its influence is expected to be more prominent in situations requiring accurate and fluent translation between languages [63]. Thus, investigating the impact of test anxiety on L2 learners' performance in cognitively demanding language tasks, such as translation, can provide valuable insights into the effects of anxiety in this context. ...
... Studies on the effects of test anxiety have been popular among scholars in general education as well as in foreign language education, but have reported conflicting results [22,19,62,63]. These effects could either be facilitative or debilitating. ...
... It suggested that as individuals experience higher test anxiety levels, they are inclined to make more errors in their translations, as evidenced by increased E/T and Errors/100 ratios. These findings aligned with prior research, indicating that heightened test anxiety could significantly affect linguistic accuracy [63,62]. Additionally, both two indices of accuracy displayed a significant correlation with test anxiety and could be predicted by test anxiety, thereby strengthening the study's conclusion. ...
Article
Full-text available
Test anxiety refers to a psychological state of excessive worry, confusion, and nervousness that individuals experience when facing evaluative situations. While moderate anxiety can stimulate students’ enthusiasm, excessive anxiety can have a severe impact on their cognitive abilities and academic performance. Numerous studies have demonstrated that anxiety significantly affects the cognitive processing of second languages, particularly in contexts requiring accurate and fluent communication across different languages. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how test anxiety influences the performance of second language learners in translation, an example of complex cognitive activities. This research involved 95 junior students majoring in English. Data collection took place after the final exam for Chinese-English translation courses. The students’ test anxiety levels were measured using Spielberger’s Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), and their translation performance was evaluated based on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). The study findings revealed that test anxiety was widespread among participants, with nearly half exhibiting high levels of test anxiety. Moreover, test anxiety significantly impacted translation performance: the complexity and accuracy of translation tasks were notably affected by the degree of test anxiety and particularly the cognitive component, indicating that higher levels of test anxiety could result in lower complexity and accuracy in translation performance. This outcome confirmed that test anxiety could diminish students’ cognitive processing abilities and translation quality. However, the study did not find a significant correlation between test anxiety and translation fluency, suggesting that test anxiety might have a relatively minor impact on translation fluency.
... More broadly, literature on trait anxiety suggests an inconsistent impact on academic performance. For example, Vitasari et al. (2010) found that in university engineering students, there was a small but significant correlation between high anxiety as measured by the STAI and low academic performance. Another study found a significant indirect correlation between low academic performance and trait anxiety in middle school students (Owens et al., 2012). ...
... Additionally, while not replicated in this study, there is previous literature that suggests anxiety can harm not only attention but academic achievement, as well (Basso et al., 1996;Cassady & Johnson, 2002;Hoegler & Nelson, 2018;Pacheco-Unguetti et al., 2010;Rosa-Alcázar et al., 2021;Vitasari et al., 2010). Literature suggests that better performance on the tasks used in this study can predict academic achievement. ...
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Previous literature suggests that trait anxiety may lead to diminished global processing, and therefore, a local processing bias (Basso et al., 1996), which may contribute to a narrowed scope of attention and impaired cognitive flexibility. Additionally, there is conflicting data on how anxiety interacts with performance on the Stroop task (e.g., Ursache & Cybele Raver, 2014). To understand this relationship, the authors used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to divide participants into groups based on their levels of anxiety. Specifically, the researchers explored the effects of state and trait anxiety on college students’ attention using the Navon task and the Stroop task. The Navon task was used to compare the performance of people with high and low trait anxiety, utilizing two t-tests to analyze local and global processing. Four groups were created for the Stroop task: high trait/low state, low state/high trait, high trait/high state, and low state/low trait, which were compared through an ANOVA. No statistically significant differences were found in performance on the Stroop and Navon tasks based on state or trait anxiety. This may be due to the age range of participants and the lack of clinical elevation of these factors. The findings suggest that moderate levels of anxiety may not impact attention drastically in a college population.
... These findings suggest an association between quarantine measures and increased levels of depression and anxiety [2]. Elevated anxiety levels have been linked to impaired academic performance and significant functional impairment across various life domains, including diminished social relationships, poorer well-being, and decreased satisfaction with life [3][4]. Despite this, limited research has explored the mental health implications of lockdown measures among university students in the UAE population. ...
... Moreover, our results support existing evidence demonstrating a negative impact of higher anxiety levels on academic performance [3]. This relationship has been attributed to factors such as lack of energy and motivation, dissatisfaction with the university learning experience, and decreased concentration [16]. ...
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic, with its consequential lifestyle changes, is anticipated to contribute to increased anxiety levels, particularly among university students who already contend with significant academic stress. We aim to assess the prevalence of anxiety among university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the COVID-19 lockdown period. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among students enrolled in UAE universities. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to gather demographic data, assess anxiety levels using the generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale, explore potential factors associated with heightened anxiety, investigate the impact of increased anxiety on academic performance, and identify coping mechanisms employed post-lockdown. Results: Of the 369 participating students, anxiety levels were minimal in 87 (23.6%), mild in 163 (44.2%), and moderate to severe in 119 (32.2%) subjects. Moreover, increased anxiety levels were significantly correlated with poor/fair sleep quality (p=0.002). Importantly, students with moderate to severe anxiety levels exhibited poorer performance in exams and assignments (p=0.001) and encountered difficulties in maintaining focus on studies (p<0.001). The predominant coping mechanisms employed by students included self-distraction, prayer, and maintaining a positive attitude. Conclusion: The majority of students in our study experienced mild to severe levels of anxiety following the COVID-19 lockdown period. We hope that our findings will prompt university and government officials to implement effective screening and preventive strategies to adequately support university students in future public health crises.
... Anxiety is the ninth leading cause of illness and disability for adolescents aged 15 -19 years and the sixth leading cause for those aged 10 -14 years [6]. Anxiety is a subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with arousal of the nervous system [7]. In 2019, there were 932 million new cases of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents alone, resulting in an immense loss of 380.62 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) [8]. ...
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Background: Mental health disorders represent a significant public health concern , particularly among adolescents. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental health disorders and associated factors, as well as knowledge of mental health, among secondary school students in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 958 secondary school students. Data were collected on demographics, knowledge of mental health disorders , and the presence of anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Descriptive statistics and univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used. Results: The overall prevalence of mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, and substance use) was 73.6%, with high rates of anxiety (54.7%), depression (57.3%), and substance use disorders (42.2%). Knowledge of mental health disorders was adequate for 55.3% of the students. Males demonstrated lower odds of adequate knowledge than females (OR = 0.730, 95% CI: 0.559-0.954), and residents of Tiko had lower odds than residents of Limbe (OR = 0.368, 95% CI: 0.213-0.639). Younger age groups and the presence of suicidal thoughts were significantly associated with mental health disorders according to multivariate analysis. Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of anxiety , depression, and substance use among students. 55.3% of students demonstrated adequate knowledge of mental health. Disparities exist in terms of gender and location. These findings highlight the urgent need for mental health awareness programs, especially for vulnerable populations.
... Anxiety could affect in people's life, including the students. According to Vitasari, et. al. (2010) anxiety referred to "conditions that are experienced during study process and could be disturbance of academic performance" (p.491). Almost every student ever experienced this kind of mental health problems. Anxiety is a feeling worry about something with an uncertain outcome. They feel anxiety sometimes because of something that was fe ...
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The main purpose of this study was to find out the correlation between mental health problems and English achievement of students at a private high school in Airmadidi, Indonesia. This study also explored the mental health problems that was categorized as depression, anxiety, and stress, and student English achievement. The results showed that the overall mental health problems were categorized in moderate level. The English achievement was categorized as below average. There was a significantly negative correlation between the student mental health problems and their English achievement. It signified that the higher score in the final test of English subject was significantly associated with lower mental health of the students. The higher the mental health problems, the lower the score in English final test of the students. Keywords: mental health, English achievement, depression, anxiety, stress.
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Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the productivity of classroom learning for industrial engineering students and to provide practical solutions for improving the learning process. Research Methodology: This research is a descriptive-analytical study conducted with a quantitative approach. The statistical population consists of undergraduate students in Industrial Engineering at the Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch. Using random sampling, 150 students were selected as the sample. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, and Cronbach's alpha method was employed to assess the reliability of the instrument for data validation. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to evaluate the impact of various factors on learning efficiency. Finally, the obtained results were compared with previous research findings, and recommendations were provided for improving the current situation and guiding future studies. Findings: The data analysis results indicate that lighting, ventilation, classroom space, and reducing student density enhance concentration and learning. Active teaching methods such as project-based learning (PBL), providing practical examples, and utilizing educational technologies improve the quality of the learning process. Constructive interaction between professors and students, continuous feedback, and engaging educational content boost motivation and comprehension. Furthermore, research findings show that variables such as classroom physical space, student density, teaching methods, and the level of instructor-student interaction have a direct impact on learning quality. Interactive teaching approaches and modern technologies are more effective than traditional methods; however, the lack of educational resources and students' low study rates remain major challenges in the learning process. Additionally, insufficient instructor-student interaction and the absence of proper academic planning are significant barriers to learning. To enhance educational quality, it is recommended to adopt innovative teaching methods, more comprehensive learning resources, continuous instructor feedback, and the effective use of educational technologies. Moreover, strengthening individual skills such as academic planning, increasing study habits, and developing self-regulation abilities can play a crucial role in improving learning efficiency. Originality/Scientific Contribution: Based on the findings of this research, strategies such as reducing class capacity, increasing professor-student interaction, utilizing modern educational technologies, developing a structured curriculum, and providing qualitative feedback are recommended. This study can serve as a foundation for designing educational policies to enhance learning quality in academic and engineering environments.
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This study investigates language anxiety experienced by 91 college students while learning English. In particular, the study explores three aspects: L2 skills in which the students feel anxious; the potential sources of their anxiety; and the relationship between the students’ level of language anxiety and their performance in end-of-semester examination. Three instruments were used to obtain the data – questionnaire, interview, and end-of-semester exam papers. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed to find out the L2 skills in which the students feel anxious. The interview provided data to examine the potential sources of their anxiety. The end-of-semester exam papers were scrutinized to determine the relationship between the students’ level of anxiety and their L2 performance. Results showed that about 88% of the students felt either moderately or highly anxious in all L2 skills, with speaking being the highest. Personal and interpersonal anxieties were identified as the main sources of their anxiety. It was also demonstrated that students with higher level of anxiety tend to obtain lower marks in their end-of-semester examination, with grammar being the lowest. These findings provide insights into the students’ language anxiety which can equip English language teachers with better knowledge about their students.
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Anxiety is an inevitable part of life in contemporary society. Anxiety corrupts a person's ability to think, perceive and learn. A person suffering from anxiety usually experiences difficulties in concentrating, remembering the learned material and establishing what the necessary relations among events or people are. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the main anxiety items of the students of two faculties. Factor analysis was performed to form groups of unrelated items by gathering related items in the scale and to rank factors affecting anxiety by their importance. In accordance with the data obtained from studies on the anxiety of engineering and medical students, factor analyses gave the following results for state anxiety: in engineering students there were units accumulated in 5 factors, in medical students there were units accumulated in 4 factors, and for trait anxiety they were in 6 factors for both. Our studies show that even if the STAI results are similar, factor analyses should be carried out and solutions should be sought in accordance with the results. During education in universities, causes of (state - trait) anxiety should be investigated and curriculums should be changed in order to lessen anxiety, psychological and social support units should be established and students should be prepared for the future.