Relationship between Academic Stress and Students’ Coping Mechanisms at Higher Secondary Level

Abstract

Academic stress refers to the psychological pressure students experience due to academic demands, performance expectations, and workload. Students’ coping mechanisms are the cognitive and behavioral strategies they use to manage this stress, helping them maintain emotional balance and academic performance. The objectives of the study were to find the level of academic stress and coping mechanisms, and to explore the effect and relationship between academic stress and coping mechanisms at Higher Secondary Level. The design of the study is correlational. Positivism is the philosophical paradigm used in quantitative research. The population was comprised of all public and private higher secondary level of Lahore district. Questionnaires served as the study's primary research tool. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Descriptive (Mean and S.D.) and inferential statistics (regression analysis and Pearson r) were used. The results revealed a strong and statistically significant positive relationship between academic stress and students’ coping mechanisms (r = .681, p < .01), indicating that as academic stress increases, students are more likely to employ various coping strategies to manage academic pressures. Regression analysis further confirmed that academic stress has a significant predictive effect on students’ coping mechanisms (F = 344.446, p < .001), explaining approximately 46.4% of the variance in coping responses (R² = .464). This finding highlights that academic stress is a key determinant influencing how students regulate their emotions and behaviors when facing academic challenges, underscoring the importance of fostering effective coping skills to enhance resilience and well-being in educational settings.