School Performance and Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Adolescents

Ângela Maria Horn,Naiana Dapieve Patias,Kélin Aparecida Da Silva

doi:10.1590/0102.3772e372117

Ângela Maria Horn, Naiana Dapieve Patias + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e372117

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Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to verify the correlation between school performance and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in 432 public school students aged from 15 to 18 years. The instruments used were a sociodemographic datasheet, Escala de Depressão, Ansiedade e Estresse (EDAE-A), and the grades in the courses/areas of interest of three school trimesters. Descriptive analyses, as well as the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's correlation test, were conducted. A weak and negative correlation was found between school performance and anxiety and depression symptoms, with the adolescents from full-time schools presenting better performance and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those in regular schools. Younger adolescents presented more stress symptoms, while female adolescents have more depression and anxiety symptoms.

Highlights

The objective of this study was to verify the correlation between school performance and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in 432 public school students aged from 15 to 18 years
The analysis indicated a significant, negative, and weak correlation between school performance and depression symptoms and between school performance and anxiety symptoms
The correlation is weak, other studies state that the depression and anxiety symptoms may entail damage to student’s performance since they compromise the quality of the attention (Baptista et al, 2006), possibly leading to difficulties in learning and retaining new contents, besides associating to stressors related to self-demand for performance and feelings of incapacity (Gonzaga et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

The objective of this study was to verify the correlation between school performance and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in 432 public school students aged from 15 to 18 years. Regarding the school performance construct, it has been studied nationally and internationally, having been conceptualized and measured in different ways (Mahendra & Marin, 2015; Menezes-Filho, 2007). This assessment generally takes place through school grades (Wang et al, 2012), standardized tests (Sy et al 2013) or is analyzed through the low proficiency in subjects, the age-grade distortion, number of failings, low attendance, or school evasion, among others (Franceschini et al, 2016). The chance may be 11 times greater at 18 years old than at 15 (Franceschini et al, 2016)

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