Homework, Stress, and Mood Disturbance in Senior High School Students

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between hours of homework, stress, and mood disturbance in senior high school students, 141 boys and 228 girls, recruited from high schools across Victoria, Australia. Participants' ages ranged from 16 to 18 years (M = 16.6, SD = .6). A 1-wk. homework diary, a Self-reported Stress scale, and the Profile of Mood States were administered to students. Analysis showed that the number of hours spent completing homework ranged from 10 to 65 hours per week (M = 37.0, SD = 12.2). Independent samples t-test analyses showed significant sex differences, with female students scoring higher on hours of homework, stress, and mood disturbance compared to male students. Pearson product-moment correlations were significant and positive for hours of homework with stress and for hours of homework with mood disturbance.

Relationships among stress, coping, and mental health in high‐achieving high school students

“…Throughout high school, students in the IB program are engaged in research, community service, and challenging curricula, far beyond state requirements for high school graduation. Logically, the heavy academic workload experienced by IB learners during their high school years should contribute to increased stress (e.g., Kouzma & Kennedy, 2002) because these academic requirements are completed while learners experience other normative stressors inherent to typical adolescent development. Despite extraordinary academic demands, students in this program do not appear to experience the impairments in academic functioning that have co-occurred with high stress in other unique secondary school populations, including ethnic minority and at-risk youth (Cunningham et al, 2002;Gillock & Reyes, 1999).…”

Mood changes in the course of preparation for the Brazilian university admission exam - a longitudinal study

“…19 Female students showed higher levels of mood disturbance than males on both PANAS-X higher-order scales, replicating Kouzma and Kennedy's findings for this population. 6 Considering that various international PANAS normative samples did not show gender-related effects for these scales, 20 this study found unexpected gender differences, that could indicate specific situational effects. Furthermore, the Brazilian university student normative sample, 21 the most similar available to the sample used for this study, showed females scoring significantly less than males on Positive Affect, but showing no differences in Negative Affect.…”

“…Finally, considering that Kouzma and Kennedy found similar results in a senior high school population that was not heading towards the vestibular, that the gender differences found in this study were already present long before the examination, and that they remained stable throughout the year, a final and more probable hypothesis would be that female students may be more susceptible to anxiety-related affective states in response to the usual demands of the senior high school year. 6 Three months before the examination, in point two, Negative Affect had already increased, in the case of both male and female students, indicating that these students were already affected by mood disturbances three months before the vestibular took place. In addition, Fear, Hostility, Attentiveness, Fatigue, Serenity, and Surprise were sensitive to mood disturbance three months before the examination was scheduled, but only among males.…”

“…Kouzma and Kennedy reported that female senior high school students scored higher than male on hours spent completing homework, on a self-reported stress measure, and on a mood disturbance measure. 6 They also found that hours of homework were positively correlated with stress and mood disturbance. Esposito and Clum, investigating high school students identified by school personnel as emotionally disturbed, found that 74% met criteria for psychiatric disorder and that the strongest predictor of suicidal ideation was severity of depressive symptoms.…”

Psychological and psychobiological stress in the relationship between basic cognitive function and school performance. [El estrés psicológico y psicobiológico en la relación entre funcionamiento cognitivo básico y rendimiento académico]

“…31, nº 1 (enero) school children (Mirowsky & Ross, 2007). In this context, it is now widely accepted that a child"s experience of daily stressors can be revealed through self-reports (Grant et al, 2004(Grant et al, , 2006Kouzma & Kennedy, 2002), even with children as young as six (Gerbot & Barumandzadeh, 2005). The present research chose to use the self-report method to assess the frequency with which children suffer daily problems that cause them emotional disturbance, or even lead to psychopathology or maladjustment (Baker, 2006;Chamberlain et al, 1990;Compas et al, 1993;Fierro, 2002;Ingram & Luxton, 2005;Kanner et al, 1981;Lazarus, 1984;Wolf et al, 1989).…”