Content uploaded by Sabina Sultana
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Sabina Sultana on Jul 03, 2022
Content may be subject to copyright.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019 109
ISSN 2225-4439
Psychological Adjustment and Academic Achievement of
Adolescents
Tasnim Akter1, Md. Nur- E- Alam Siddique2, and Sabina Sultana31
Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate the effect of psychological adjustment
on academic achievement of adolescents. Two hundred adolescents (100 boys and
100 girls) were selected randomly from different schools of Rajshahi city,
Bangladesh. Their age ranged from 15 through 16 years. Their education level
varied from 9th to 10th grade. Bangla versions (Uddin & Ahmed, 2012) of
Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) (Rohner & Khaleque, 2005) were
administered to measure psychological adjustment of the respondents. In this study
since the participants were students of class nine and ten, their previous board
examination result were considered as academic achievement. The academic
achievement was measured from Grade Point Average (GPA) of respondents’
former class. The respondents were classified into high (above 75th percentile),
medium (from 25th to 75th percentile) and low (below 25th percentile)
psychological adjustment groups on the basis of their obtained scores on Personality
Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ). Obtained data were analyzed by using one way
ANOVA and t-test. The results suggested that there was direct and significant
relationship between psychological adjustment and academic achievement.
Respondents from higher psychological adjustment group were higher in academic
achievement than those from poor psychological adjustment group and respondents
from medium psychological adjustment group had higher academic achievement
than the lower ones. Thus, the results of the study confirmed the hypothesis.
Keywords: academic achievement, adolescent, psychological adjustment
Introduction
Adolescence is a discrete and critical stage of development. In this period of
transition occurs when the individual significantly changes physical, psychological
and social growth. So adolescence is called by the period of storm and stress (Hall,
1916).This is a stage of life when an individual becomes an emerging adult:
physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. For the period of adolescents the
individual arrives a cognitively formless state that results in tentatively of manners
and adjustment and academic problems (Lewin, 1939). Academic achievement is the
essential for the successful development of young people in society. Academic
1 Ex-MS Student, Department of Psychology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
2 Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
3 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Correspondence should be sent to- E-mail: nur_psy2011@ru.ac.bd
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019
attainment is the outcome of education the magnitude to which a student, teacher or
institution has achieved their short-term and long-term educational goals. Academic
achievement means knowledge attained or skills developed in the school subjects,
usually designated by test scores or by marks assigned by teachers or by both (Annie
Ward, Stoker & Murray-Ward, 1996).
Achievement is an end practical of learning and its level and performance are
affected by various conditions existing at the time of learning and its use (Mohanraj
& Latha, 2005). This is measured either by examinations or continuous assessment
and the goal may differ from an individual or institution to another (Source www.
ask.com/question/definition-of-academic-achievement).
Academic achievement may reflect cognitive gains that help students better
understand and act on information about healthy behaviors. Other hand, students
with low academic achievement may be more vulnerable to problems such as stress,
hopefulness, delinquency and substance abuse. Psychological maladjustment lead
them to develop negative attitude, difficulties in decision making and adjustment to
the family or others environment. If it happens during adolescents, it may lead to
behavior problems (externalizing and internalizing), inability to develop appropriate
self-knowledge and hamper the academic achievement that directs toward to success
in different levels of our life (Hesami, Doulatian, Shams, & AlaviMajd, 2010).
The concept of psychological adjustment refers to an individual's state of mind and
overall well-being. It reflects the relative adaptation of an individual to changing
environmental conditions.
Psychological adjustment refers to general feelings of wellbeing and satisfaction
comes to experience because of reduction of the stress of living in the new culture. It
is broadly affected by personality, life changes, coping styles and social support
(Ward & Kennedy, 1999). Psychological adjustment refers to emotional and affective
components of the construct (Ward & Kennedy, 1999). Psychological adjustment
focuses on psychological well-being and satisfaction and adaptation stresses on the
ability of the adolescents to discover aesthetically appropriate skills and deal with
interactive components of the host environment (Cetinkaya-Yildiz et al., 2011). In a
study Yellalah (2012) found that adjustment and academic achievement cause
significant difference between male and female students. It also found that there was
a low positive relationship between adjustment and academic achievement. Gold
(1978) concluded that there is significant positive relationship between psychological
adjustment and academic achievement among O’ level passed students. Larson and
Richards (1991) found that there is significant positive relationship between
psychological adjustment and academic achievement. Hinshaw (1992) showed that
adolescents' problem with psychological adjustment brings negative outcomes,
including low academic attainment. Poor school adjustment leads to low academic
achievement, behavioral problems, dissonant educational desires and even school
dropout (Vasalampi et al., 2009; Raju & Rahamtula, 2007).
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019 111
Sarkar and Banik (2017) have found that there existed positive relationship between
adjustment and academic achievement in adolescence period of West Tripura
District. Hussain and Lakhani (2015) showed that adolescents’ psychological
adjustment was significantly related with their academic achievement. Adolescents’
social functioning and adjustment, uniquely contribute to Adolescents’ academic
achievement (Chen, Rubin, & Li, 1997). Disruptive, aggressive, socially withdrawal
and shy adolescents tend to perform poorly in academics (Dishion, 1990; Masten et
al., 1995; Wentzel, 1991). Adolescents who have social and behavioral problems
tend to be low achievers or even failed in academics in later years (Coie, Lochman,
Terry, & Hyman, 1992; Masten et al., 1995; Ollendick, Weist, Borden, & Greene,
1992). Valas (2001) found that students’ academic achievement was directly and
indirectly related to their psychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment factors
such as aggression is related to the various forms of poor academic outcomes such as
lower academic achievement, truancy and lower graduation rates (Malinauskiene,
Vosylis, & Zukauskiene, 2011). According to the findings of meta-analysis on
students with emotional and behavioral problems reported that academic
performance of students without behavioral complaints was significantly better than
students with behavioral disorders. The complications of students with behavioral
problems are not limited to their poor academic performance but they also have
reported higher school absence rate (Apkan, Ojinnaka, & Ekanem, 2010). Gold
(1978) ; Larson and Richards (1991) found that there was a significant positive
relationship between psychological adjustment and academic achievement. Searle &
Ward (1990) concluded a positive significant relationship between psychological
adjustment and academic achievement among secondary level passed students.
Rationale of the Study
Nowadays, Bangladesh is going on development. For this situation, it is very
important for the government to educate the young generation. If the parents,
teachers, implementers, government etc. know about the bad effect of psychological
maladjustment, they can planned or control the factors of inter-parental conflict and
psychological maladjustment. By this study we can know the way of improve from
psychological adjustment and the factors to optimize academic achievement.
Academic achievement of the student helps him/her set up his/her career. Academic
achievement is often a sign of an outstanding intellect which can help the students in
all the fields of their lives. But review of the literature revealed that very few studies
in Bangladesh focus in this area. In context to above studies were undertaken to the
relationship psychological adjustment with academic achievement of adolescents. So
this study will help us to understand the bad effect of maladjustment on adolescent
academic achievement as well as to removing strategy from psychological
maladjustment. It will expand our knowledge and to formulate proper strategy for
accelerate academic achievement to help the parents and teachers. The study should
be aimed at broadening the understanding of the policy makers, implementers,
researchers, and all relevant members of the civil society about the linkages between
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019
psychological well-being and academic achievement of adolescents. The present
study may provide some new knowledge, which may help further research on this
area in Bangladesh as well as foreign countries.
Objectives of the study
The objectives of the present study were –
1. To find out whether there is any relationship between psychological
adjustment and academic achievement of adolescents.
2. To investigate if there is any difference in academic achievement among
adolescents with different levels of psychological adjustment.
Hypothesis of the study
In relation to the objectives of the present study the following hypothesis was
formulated : Academic achievement would be directly related to psychological
adjustment.
Methods
Participants
A total of 200 respondents (100 boys and 100 girls) were selected randomly from
different high schools (Two co-educational, four boys school and three girls schools)
of Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. Their age ranged from 15 to 16 years. Their education
level varied from 9th to 10th grades. They belonged to middle class socio-economic
status.
Measures
In this study the following instruments were used to collect the data.
The Personal Information Form (PIF)
The PIF elicited demographic, personal, and social information about respondent’s age,
gender, class, name of school, structure of family and family socio-economic status.
Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ, child version)
The Bangla version (Uddin & Ahmed, 2012) of the Child PAQ (Rohner & Khaleque,
2005) was used to measure children’s overall psychological adjustment. Children
respond to PAQ items on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from “4” (almost
always true of me) to “1” (almost never true of me). A profile of a child’s overall
self-reported psychological adjustment is achieved by summing the seven scale-
scores after reverse scoring appropriate items. They include: (1) hostility/aggression;
(2) dependence; (3) impaired self-esteem; (4) impaired self-adequacy; (5) emotional
unresponsiveness; (6) emotional instability; and (7) negative worldview. The
possible scale score ranges from a low of 42 to a high of 168. Psychological
maladjustment is indicated if the total PAQ score is at or above the scale midpoint
105. On the other hand, psychological adjustment is indicated if the total PAQ score
is below the scale mid-point 105.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019 113
The PAQ has been used in several hundred studies internationally, and it has been
shown to have high reliability and validity in cross-cultural research (Khaleque &
Rohner, 2002; Rohner & Khaleque, 2005). The Cronbach alpha reliability and split-
half reliability coefficient for the present study are .84 and .82 respectively. The
content validity was determined by the relevant experts according to their comments
and recommendations at the translating phase of the scales.
Measurement of Academic Achievement
In this study since the participants were students of class nine and ten, their previous
board examination results were considered as academic achievement. The academic
achievement was measured from Grade Point Average (GPA) of respondents’ former
class. For authentic measure, the GPA of JSC was taken into consideration that was
collected from respondents’ school records. Here, higher GPA indicated better
academic achievement.
Design of the study
The present study was conducted to investigate whether academic achievement of
adolescents was related to psychological adjustment. The independent variable was
psychological adjustment. Academic achievement was regarded as dependent
variable. The respondents were classified into three groups on the basis of their
obtained scores on Psychological adjustment scale. The groups were: (1) High
psychological adjustment group (above 75th percentile), (2) Medium psychological
adjustment group (from 25th to 75th percentile) and (3) Low psychological adjustment
group (below 25th percentile), respectively. An adapted Bangla version of (Uddin &
Ahmed, 2012) Child form of PAQ (Rohner & Khaleque, 2005) was administered on
two hundred students to measure their psychological adjustment. The students’
previous board examination grade point average was considered as academic
achievement.
Procedures
In this study standard data collection procedure was followed to collect information
from the respondents. At first, rapport was established with the respondents and they
were briefed about the purpose of the study. Then the above instruments were
administered to each respondent. They were assured of the confidentiality of their
answers. The respondents were instructed to read the items of the questionnaires
attentively and to respond accordingly. They were also requested not to omit any
item in the questionnaires and encouraged to answer all the items by telling that there
was no right or wrong answer to any item, any difficulty on their part in
understanding the instructions and in the method of answering the items were
clarified. Although, there was no time limit for completing the whole task, the
respondents were requested to finish it without wasting time. It took 30 to 40 minutes
on average to complete the task. After completing the task they were thanked for
their sincere participation.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019
Results
The present study was conducted to investigate whether the academic achievement of
adolescents was related to their psychological adjustment. Obtained data were
analyzed by employing the Pearson’s product-moment correlation, one way
ANOVA, and t-test through IBM SPSS version 22. The results of the present study
are illustrated in the following tables.
Table1
Mean and SD of Academic Achievement Score of High, Medium and Low
Psychological Adjustment Groups.
Group N M SD
High 45 4.95 .153
Medium 106 4.85 .297
Low 49 4.76 .333
Total 200 4.85 .287
Results displayed in Table 1 indicate that the academic achievement of high
psychological adjustment group was better than medium and low psychological
adjustment groups.
Table 2
Correlation Between Academic Achievement and Psychological Adjustment of the
Respondents
Variable N R
Academic achievement and
Psychological adjustment 200 .23*
Note. *p <.01.
Results in Table 2 show that academic achievement was negatively and significantly
correlated with psychological adjustment scores (r = -.227, p <.01). It reveals that the
adolescents with a higher level of academic achievement have a lower score of (good
adjustment) psychological adjustment.
Table3
Summary of One-way ANOVA among Low, Medium and High Psychological
Adjustment Groups on Academic Achievement Scores.
Group Compared SS at MS F p
Between groups .816 2 .408
Within groups 15.603 197 .079 5.152 .005
Total 16.419 199
Results displayed in Table 3 show a highly significant difference among the three
groups-high, medium and low psychological adjustment groups (F = 5.152, p <.05)
which indicates that academic achievement varies with the different levels of
psychological adjustment.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019 115
Table 4
Results of Comparisons among Three Psychological Adjustment Groups on
Academic Achievement Scores.
Group N M SD df t p
45 4.94 .153
High
&
Medium 106 4.85 .296 149 2.030 .05
45 4.94 .153
High
&
Low 49 4.76 .333 92 3.434 .001
106 4.85 .296
Medium
&
Low 49 4.76 .333 153 1.719 NS
Results in Table 4 indicate a significant difference in academic achievement (t= 2.030,
df = 149, p <.05) between high (M=4.94) and medium (M=4.85) psychological
adjustment groups. The results show a significant difference in academic achievement
(t= 3.434, df= 92, p < .001) between high (M=4.94) and low (M=4.76) psychological
adjustment groups and no significant difference in academic achievement (t= 1.719,
df= 153) between medium (M=4.85) and low (M=4.76) psychological adjustment
groups. So, the academic achievement of high psychological adjustment group was
higher than that of the low and medium groups as well as the academic achievement of
medium group is higher than that of the low psychological adjustment group.
Discussion
The present study was conducted to investigate whether academic achievement of
adolescents’ was related to psychological adjustment. Bangla version (Uddin &
Ahmed, 2012) child form of PAQ scale (Rohner & Khaleque, 2005) was
administered on 200 adolescents of different schools of Rajshahi city. Data were
analyzed by using correlation, one way ANOVA and t-test.
The hypothesis of the present study stated "Academic achievement would be directly
related to psychological adjustment". The results in Table 1, 2, 3, and 4 show that
academic achievement is directly related to psychological adjustment. The results in
Table 2 reveal that academic achievement is highly negatively related to personality
assessment questionnaire score (r= -.227, p < 0.01). It reveals that the adolescents
with higher level of academic achievement have lower score of (good adjustment)
psychological adjustment.
The results in Table 3 shows that academic achievement of the respondents varies as
a function of psychological adjustment. And the results in Table 4 reveal that
academic achievement of the respondents with high psychological adjustment group
is higher than that of the respondents with medium and lower psychological
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019
adjustment group. The results also indicate that respondents with medium
psychological adjustment group have higher academic achievement than that of
respondents with lower psychological adjustment group. These findings confirmed
the hypothesis. In explaining these findings it can be argued that psychological
adjustment is positively related to academic achievement of adolescents. This result
consistent of many other research like, Jacobson (2012); Gold (1978); Margetts
(2002) and Chen (2010) conducted several studies on psychological adjustment and
academic achievement of adolescents. They reported that there is strong positive
association between psychological adjustment and academic achievement of
adolescents. We can say that psychological adjustment significantly influences
academic performance of adolescents. Academic achievement is often a sign of an
outstanding intellect which can help the students in all the fields of their lives.
Academic attainment is dependent on their ability to make appropriate psychological
adjustments with regards to cognitive, affective and attitudinal and behavioral
adjustments. When their psychological adjustment level is high or good, then parents,
family and lecturer supports are greatly helpful in assisting them to achieve academic
excellence. Gold (1978) and Larson and Richards (1991) found that there was a
significant positive relationship between psychological adjustment and academic
achievement. Searle and Ward (1990) concluded a positive significant relationship
between psychological adjustment and academic achievement among secondary level
passed students. The findings of the present study reveal that academic achievement
is positively related to psychological adjustment which are consistent with some
other findings (Jacobson, 2012; Margetts, 2002; Chen, 2010).
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, every child is born in family.
Then gradually they grow up and enter into simplified, purified, better balanced
culture which is school. In school the child not only fulfills their needs but also
adjusts properly with the school environment. Academic achievement of the student
helps their career.
References
Annie Ward., Stoker, H. W., & Murray-Ward, M. (1996). Achievement and Ability Tests -
Definition of the Domain, Educational Measurement, University Press of
America, pp. 2–5, ISBN 978-0-7618-0385-0.
Apkan, M. U., Ojinnaka, N. C., & Ekanem, E. E. (2010). Academic performance of
school children with behavioral disorders in Uyo, Nigeria. African Health
Science, 10 (2), 154-159.
Cetinkaya-Yildiz, E., Cakir, S. G., & Kondakci, Y. (2011). Psychological distress among
international students in Turkey. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, 35 (5), 534-539.
Chen, C. P. (2010). Integrative Qualitative and Psychometric Methods in Career
Exploration. Paper Presented at the Canadian Guidance and Counselling
Association Annual Conference.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019 117
Chen, X., Rubin, K.H., & Li, D. (1997). Relationship between academic achievement and
social adjustment: Evidence from Chines children. Developmental Psychology,
33 (3), 518-525.
Coie, J. D., Lochman, J. E., Terry, R., & Hyman, C. (1992). Predicting early adolescent
disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection.Journal of Counseling
and Clinical Psychology, 60, 783-792.
Dishion, T. J. (1990). The family ecology of boy’s peer relations in middle childhood.
Child Development, 61, 874-892.
Gold, M. (1978). Scholastic experiences, self-esteem and delinquent behavior: A theory
of alternative schools.Crime and Delinque- ncy, 24 (3), 290-308.
Hall, G. S. (1916). Adolescence. New York: Appleton.
Hesami, K., Doulatian, M., Shams, J., & AlaviMajd, H. (2010). Domestic violence before
and during pregnancy among pregnant. Iran Journal of Nursing, 23 (63), 51-59.
Hinshaw, S. P. (1992). Academic underachievement, attention deficits, and aggression:
Comorbidity and implications for intervention. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 60, 893–903.
Hussain, S., & Lakhani, G. R. (2015). Psychological Adjustment as Predictor of Students
Academic Achievement in Gilgit: Pakistan. Bahria Journal of Professional
Psychology, 14 (2), 55 – 69.
Jacobson, T. L. (2012). Academic Performance in Middle School, Friendship Influences.
Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 2 (3), 1-12.
Larson, R., & Richards, M. (1991). Boredom in the middle school: Blaming schools
versus blaming students. American Journal of Education, 99 (4), 418-443.
Lewin, K. (1939). The field theory approach to adolescence.American Journal of
Sociology, 44, 868-897.
Malinauskiene, O., Vosylis, R., & Zukauskiene, R. (2011). Longitudinal examination of
relationships between problem behaviors and academic achievement in young
adolescents. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 3415-3421.
Margetts, K. (2002). The developing child in today’s world: Issues and care in education.
Educare News, 127, 10-13.
Mastern, A., Coatsworth, J. D., Neeemann, L., Gest, S. D., Tellegen, A., & Garmezy, N.
(1995). The structure and coherence of competence from childhood through
adolescence. Child Development, 66, 1635-1659.
Mohanraj, R., & Latha (2005). Perceived family environment in relation to adjustment
and academic achievement. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied
Psychology, 31, 18-23.
Ollendick, T. H., Weist, M. D., Borden, M. G., & Greene, R. W. (1992). Sociometric
status and academic, behavioral, and psychological adjustment: A five-year
longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 60, 80-87.
Jagannath University Journal of Psychology, 9 (1), 119-120, 2019
Raju, M. V., & Rahamtulla, T. K. (2007). Adjustment Problems among School Students.
Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology.33, 173- 79.
Rohner, R. P., & Khaleque, A. (2005). Personality assessment questionnaire (PAQ): Test
manual. In R. P. Rohner& A. Khaleque (Eds.).Handbook for the study of
parental acceptance and rejection (4thed., pp. 187, 205). Rohner Research
Publications, Storrs, CT 06268, USA.
Rohner, R. P., & Khaleque, A. (2002). ‘Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Life-span
Development: A Universal Perspective’ in Lonner, W.J., Dinnel, D.L., Hayes,
S.A. and Sattler, D.N. (eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 11(4),
Available at [http://www.wwu.edu/culture], Center for Cross-Cultural Research,
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington.
Sarkar, S., & Banik, S. (2017). A Study on the adjustment and academic achievement of
adolescents’ students. International Journal of Research -Granthaalayah, 5 (6),
659-668.
Searle, W., & Ward, C. (1990). The prediction of psychological and sociocultural
adjustment during cross-cultural transitions. International Journal of
Intercultural Relations, 14(4), 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767
(90)90030-Z
Uddin, M. K., & Ahmed, F. (2012). Bangla translation of the Personality Assessment
Questionnaire (Child PAQ). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Department of Psychology,
University of Dhaka.
Valas, H. (2001). Learned helplessness and psychological adjustment: Effects of age,
gender and academic achievement. Scandinavian Journal of Educational
Research, 45 (1), 71-90.
Vasalampi, K., Salmela-Aro K., & Nurmi, J. (2009). Adolescents self-concordance,
school engagement, and burnout predict their educational trajectories. European
psychologist, 14 (4), 332-341.
Ward, C., & Kennedy, A. (1999). The measurement of socio-cultural adaptation.
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23, 659-677.
Wentzel, K. R. (1991). Relations between social competence and academic achievement
in early adolescence. Child Development, 62, 1066-1078.
Yellalah (2012). A study of adjustment on academic achievement of high school student.
International Journal of Social Science and Interdisciplinary Research,.1(5).
