The relationship between study addiction and examination stress among students of music academies

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that study addiction is related to worse academic performance among music academy students as well as in the general population of students, suggesting that excessive examination stress may impair their performance on exams. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the newly developed concept of “study addiction” and examination stress among students of music academies. Study addiction has been defined within the framework of theory and research on work addiction as a potential behavioral addiction. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted, with a sample of 132 students of music academies in Poland. The Bergen Study Addiction Scale, assessing seven core addiction symptoms related to studying, was administered together with a commonly used measure of personality and single-item measures of examination stress and learning engagement. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis showed that study addiction was related to higher examination stress above and beyond personality traits. What is more, while study addiction showed a positive relationship with examination stress, learning engagement showed a negative association with examination stress. The results suggest that, among music academies students, study addiction is related to higher stress during exams and that study addiction and learning engagement are different constructs. Taking into account the relationship of study addiction with higher stress in situations of being evaluated, future studies are warranted that would link study addiction to music performance anxiety, which is one of the most widely studied phenomena in the psychology of music.

Can perseverance of effort become maladaptive? Study addiction moderates the relationship between this component of grit and well-being among music academy students

“…Study addiction was found to be positively associated with learning engagement, at least to some extent; it was also positively associated with other variables including low extraversion and high social anxiety, specific aspects of studying (longer learning time and lower academic performance), and indicators of decreased wellbeing (impaired general health, decreased quality of life and sleep quality, and higher perceived stress). These findings are similar to those of Atroszko (2015), , Atroszko, Andreassen, et al (2015), and Wróbel (2020) in suggesting that study addiction is pathological. These and the results of other studies on the study and work addiction support the notion that intensive, prolonged overinvolvement in work-related activities may exact high costs in terms of health, quality of life, productivity, and social relations (Atroszko, , 2019Griffiths et al, 2018).…”

“…Study addiction has been conceptualized as a potential early form of, or precursor to, work addiction (Atroszko, 2015; Atroszko, Andreassen, et al, 2015). It has been defined by analogy to a recently proposed general definition of work addiction ascharacterized by a compulsion to study and preoccupation with study activities leading to significant harm and distress of a functionally impairing nature to the individual and/or other significantly relevant relationships (friends, family).…”

Cross-cultural pilot study on the relationship between study addiction and narcissism among undergraduate students in Poland and India

“…In this study we used a 7-point Likert-type response scale, ranging from 1 (I am not at all engaged) to 7 (I am completely engaged). The Polish version of the scale showed good validity in the previous research (Atroszko, 2015;Atroszko et al, 2015;Atroszko et al, 2019b;Lawendowski et al, 2019).…”

“…The Likert-type response scale ranged from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The scale has demonstrated good construct validity and reliability in previous studies (Atroszko, 2015;Atroszko et al, 2015Atroszko et al, , 2016aAtroszko et al, 2019b;Lawendowski et al, 2019). In the present study, single-factor structure was confirmed in the Polish sample (MLR estimator, χ 2 (14) = 90.19, p < .001, RMSEA = .070, 90% CI RMSEA = .056-.084, CFI = .945, SRMR = .031) as well as in Indian sample (MLR estimator, error terms of items 1 and 2 cor-related, χ 2 (13) = 23.35, p = .038, RMSEA = .052, 90% CI RMSEA = .012-.086, CFI = .927, SRMR = .046).…”

“…Moreover, previous studies (Atroszko, 2015; showed a relationship between study addiction and basic features of both agentic and antagonistic narcissism forms: i) the need for achievement, which may be understood as an ego-boosting striving for uniqueness (see Schwartz, 2012;Back et al, 2013), and ii) competitiveness component of Type A personality, which may be understood as an ego-protecting striving for supremacy. Congruently, studies showed a consistent link between study addiction and higher examination stress as well as social anxiety in diverse samples of students (Atroszko, 2015;Atroszko, Wróbel, Bereznowski, & Lawendowski, 2019b;Lawendowski et al, 2019). Study addiction was conceptualized as an ineffective coping mechanism typical for individuals who are perfectionists, need to demonstrate their competencies as well as who obsessively try to avoid making any mistakes in fear of losing respect and admiration of other people, and the initial data support such assumptions (see Atroszko, 2015Atroszko, , 2019a.…”