Anxiety and Academic Performance
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Anxiety and Academic Performance
It’s taken from the Latin “angere,” which means “to induce arousal” (Sharma & Sharma, 2015). Long-term stress and the presence of various stressors have been characterized as contributing factors to anxiety (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). According to the DSM V, generalized anxiety is characterized by “vigilance in preparation for future danger and cautious or avoidant behaviors” as well as “anticipation of future harm” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
According to recent research by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (n.d.), seven out of ten American people feel considerable anxiety or stress on a regular basis (as cited in Beiter et al. 2014). People who suffer from an anxiety disorder worry excessively about things like money, health, and/or family troubles, even if they have no legitimate reason to be concerned about them. Their attitude toward the day is pessimistic and bleak, and they believe that everything will go wrong (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013).
Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive fear or anxiety that lasts longer than normal. In critical areas of functioning, these illnesses cause clinically severe impairment or suffering. There are many distinct types of anxiety disorders, which are defined by the things or situations that cause individuals distress, and they can begin at any age (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
People who suffer from social anxiety fear or are anxious about social situations in which they believe they will be judged by other people. More than one study has indicated that social anxiety is a deterrent to forming close relationships with others (Brook & Willoughby, 2015; Goguen, Hiester, & Nordstrom, 2010; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). When compared to the overall population, college students are more likely to suffer from this sort of anxiety, which ranges from ten to thirty-three percent (Russell & Shaw, 2009).
If an individual is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after six months of experiencing excessive anxiety and concern that is difficult to manage, the individual must have considerable distress or impairment in functioning as a result.
Sleep difficulties, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, exhaustion, irritability, and muscle tension are all symptoms that must be present in order for someone to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
There is a high prevalence of anxiety disorders in youngsters, which often go untreated, leading to a variety of symptoms and severe implications in later life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is possible for anxiety to begin in the teen years or early adulthood when social interactions become more crucial.
Symptoms may get better or worse at different times, and they often get worse when people are stressed. To try to deal with their anxiety on their own, young adults often use bad coping skills like safety behaviors, risk-taking behaviors, alcohol and/or drug abuse, to try to deal with their stress on their own. Many of these will help relieve some of the symptoms in the short term, but they will also keep the disorder strong and stable in the long run.
A lot of women have anxiety disorders, but they are twice as common as in men. Individuals in the United States who are of European descent are more likely to have an anxiety disorder than those of non-European descent, such as Asian, African, and Native American, who are not European. Another thing to note is that people who live in developed places are more likely to have an anxiety disorder than people who live in less-developed places. They are less likely to be in trouble than people from less-developed countries.
In 2000, 6.7 percent of college students in the United States said they were worried about something. In 2013, that number was 12.9 percent. In 2014, the American College Health Association said that 23% of college students said that anxiety had made it hard for them to function in the last year (as cited in Holliday et. al, 2016). People who have anxiety often worry about their work and school performance a lot (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In grade school, people learn how to read and write. In middle school, they learn how to drive.
During school, high school, and then college, the level of difficulty and the level of pressure to do well go up, as well. The anxiety may also get worse for people who already have it, so this could make it worse. Because anxiety can go unnoticed or untreated, it can keep having an effect on social, occupational, academic, or other important parts of a person’s life. Excessive worry makes it hard to do things quickly and efficiently. How much time and energy someone spends worrying would make them less able to study or do homework, as well as hurt them in many other ways.
Several long-term studies have shown that untreated anxiety in adolescents and young adults can cause a lot of problems with their behavior, physical health, and mental health. Hypertension, heart disease, alcoholism, nicotine addiction, depression, and suicidality are some of the side effects that can happen if you don’t get help for your anxiety.
These problems and difficulties have a negative effect on the people who have them and can make them more anxious, which makes it hard for students to be successful. In addition, if you don’t get help for your anxiety, you may end up with a condition called “pathological anxiety.” This is (Emilien, Durlach, & Lepola, 2002). Study: Beiter et al. (2015) found that students living off-campus were more likely to be depressed or stressed than students who lived in dorms on campus, did not move, or were underclassmen.
Teachers and parents were questioned by Nail, Christofferson, Ginsburg, Drake, Kendall, McCracken & Sakolsky (2015), who found that students with high levels of anxiety also had lower grades and performance in school. Students in the top third of their class in terms of anxiety symptoms in first grade had a higher likelihood of finishing the fifth grade in the lowest third of their class when it came to academic success (Ialongo, Edelsohn, WerthamerLarsson, Crockett, & Kellam, 1995).
Overall academic performance can be determined by tasks such as finishing assignments and completing homework assignments; receiving good grades; giving oral and written reports; taking tests/examinations, and writing in class (Nail et al., 2015). Anxiety can influence any of these tasks, but the most common academic difficulty mentioned by people with anxiety was trouble concentrating on work. When anxiety develops in a child and is not treated, it can have a long-term effect on the development of maladaptive coping abilities (American Psychiatric Association, 2013),
If a person has anxiety in elementary, middle, or high school and it isn’t handled, they may turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of coping, which can have long-term bad effects on many aspects of their life. This can influence students’ capacity to interact with instructors and peers in a meaningful way, which is a crucial part of academic success (Gougen, 2010).
In a separate study, researchers looked at the effects of two forms of anxiety, state, and trait, on academic performance. Anxiety is characterized by tremors, perspiration, or a rise in heart rate and blood pressure in response to a certain event or time (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, and Jacobs, 1983, p. 27).
Individuals with trait anxiety are more likely to experience state anxiety as a reaction to stressful situations. Academic performance is positively influenced by ordinary state and trait anxiety, but high and extremely high state and trait anxiety are detrimental to academic achievement. This finding could suggest that a moderate amount of anxiety is beneficial to academic performance, but that anxiety levels that are higher than the norm are detrimental.
Anxiety and depression often coexist in people who suffer from them. “Individuals whose presentation fits criteria for generalized anxiety disorder are likely to have met, or currently meet, criteria for additional anxiety and depressive disorders,” according to the American Psychiatric Association (2013) (p. 226). Anxiety and despair are common among college students. Depression, in particular, is a major issue because this group has a higher prevalence of the disorder than the general population.
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