Anxiety/Depression And Academic Achievement In Adolescents In Prishtina

Abstract

Numerous empirical studies suggest that psychological difficulties of children and adolescents are negatively correlated with academic achievement.The main purpose of the study is the recognition level of emotional problems-anxiety and depression to an adoleshent school sample in Prishtina and their relation with academic achievement. A sample of the school population (219 children aged from 10 years to 18),38.8% boys and 61.2% girls have completed instruments:Revised Children Manifest Anxiety Scale(RCMAS) and Depression Self-Rating Scale for children. 15% of cases have resulted in anxiety and 22.1% with depression. Results showed that anxiety and depression have no significant correlation with success at school while having significant positive correlation between them (r=.56,p<.00) with great effect size. Nonsignificaly students with depression had a poor success and those with anxiety had better success. Also the results showed statistically significant gender differences in the level of anxiety and depression. Women have more anxiety (r=.24,p<.00) and depression(r=.20,p<.01); in both cases the effect size is small. The multiple standard regresion analysis of academic achievement as the dependent variable and gender, age, anxiety and depression as independent variables resulted in a significant statistical model (R2=.216, F(5,131)=6.598, p<.00). Hovewer, the model describes only 21 % of shown success variance,significant unique contribution have given gender (?= .17, p<.04),residence (?= .24, p<.00),age (?=-.19, p<.02) depression (?= -.24, p<.01) and anxiety (?=.20, p<.03). These results have important implications in the context of addressing anxiety and depression with the goal of improving academic achievement.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n2p375