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

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.