RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
BANGALORE, KARNATAKA
PROFORMA FOR REGISTRATION OF SUBJECTS FOR DISSERTATION
Mrs. SIMI VARGHESE
1st year M.Sc. Nursing
Psychiatric Nursing
Year 2012-2013
PRAJWAL COLLEGE OF NURSING
BANGALORE-91
RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES,
BANGALORE
PROFORMA FOR REGISTRATION OF SUBJECTS FOR
DISSERTATION
1 / NAME OF THECANDIDATE AND
ADRESS / Mrs. Simi Varghese
I year M.sc Nursing
Byadarahalli, Bangalore.
2 / NAME OF THE
INSTITUTE / Prajwal College of Nursing
No. 73/A, Balaji Layout,
Byadarahalli,
Magadi Main Road,
Bangalore 560091.
3 / COURSE OF THE STUDY AND SUBJECT / I year M.sc Nursing
Psychiatric Nursing
4 / DATE OF ADMISSION OF THE COURSE / 30/06/2012
5 / TITILE OF THE STUDY / A study to assess the effectiveness of information booklet regarding stress management among English medium students in selected high schools at Bangalore.
6. BRIEF RESUME OF THE INTENDED WORK
INTRODUCTION
"Stress, like Einstein's theory of relativity, is a scientific concept which has suffered from the mixed blessing of being too well known and too little understood." (Dr Hans Selye)
Stress may be defined as "a state of psychological and / or physiological imbalance resulting from the disparity between situational demand and the individual's ability and / or motivation to meet those demands." Dr. Hans Selye, one of the leading authorities on the concept of stress, described stress as "the rate of all wear and tear caused by life." 1
Stress is difficult for scientists to define because it is a highly subjective phenomenon that differs for each of us. Things that are distressful for some individuals can be pleasurable for others. We also respond to stress differently. Some people blush, some eat more while others grow pale or eat less. There are numerous physical as well as emotional responses.2
However, contrary to popular myth, stress is not a unique problem to the 21st Century; human kind has suffered stress since the dawn of human evolution. Modern society however, has undergone more complex, radical change in the span of a few short years than in the whole of human evolution, and this is partly why stress is more of a problem today.3
Even our children are not immune from the effects of excessive pressure Dr Lori Buffa, an American Paediatrician said, the 21st Century has:
"A lot of stressors that 30, 40 and even 50 years ago children did not have to deal with everything is very fast paced. The level of stimuli they are exposed to is so much higher than it used to be."
School is your child’s “job”. It’s where he spends most of his time. His work is scored and measured, and compares himself with others every day. Academic stress and social pressure are two big causes of anxiety for school-age children. Meeting parents and teachers high expectations for school can be stressful. The build-up of schoolwork, homework, after
school activities, tests, projects, and changes in routine can be overwhelming. It’s also
stressful to keep up with a friend’s nice clothes or expensive toys. Stress is often seen as a apparent physical reaction: mourn, sweaty palms, flying, aggressive or defensive outbursts, rocking and self-comforting behaviors, headaches and stomachaches, nervous behavior of fine motor skills (e.g. hair twirling or pulling, chewing and sucking, wounding of skin and nails), accidents of the toilet, and sleep disturbances.4
Both negative and positive events can cause stress. Family events are often a source of stress for children. The breakup of a family is a negative event that can cause stress in children. Events such as physical abuse, separation, rejection, and fights are some other negative sources of stress. Other events such as a parent losing a job, or the death of a parent, grandparent, or sibling can create stress. Positive events that cause stress in children include birthday parties, new pets, and the birth of new siblings. Parents and caregivers need to be aware of what is happening in a child's life that may affect the child's behaviour. A sudden change in a child’s behaviour may be related to stress. Caregivers can talk with the parents about what is going on in the home.2
Management of stress strategy are take deep breath, practice specific relation technique, manage time, connect with others, talk it out, take a minute vacation, monitor your physical comfort, take care of your body, laugh, know your limits, think positively, clarify your values and develop a sense of life meaning, compromise, have a good cry, avoid self- medication, look for the “pieces of gold “around you.5
As educational requirements get more stringent in all levels of education. Students everywhere experiences considerable school stress. Based on these factors the investigators felts the need to make the children more flexible, realistic and assured of their own inner resources. And when they faced with stressors, they have to show the capacity to recover quickly from temporary collapse or defend against problem.
6.1 NEED for the STUDY
Most teenagers worry about issues that are much more serious than cliché high school problems such as homework and popularity. According to Bay Area psychologists and teenagers interviewed by the Daily Planet, high school students often worry about being successful, both in the immediate future and later in life. High school students who are considering attending college may face an even greater level of stress. When faced both with the pressure to excel as well as the need to determine their own identities and goals, it isn’t surprising that most teenagers suffer from stress. The stress faced by today’s teenagers is more complicated and widespread than it may seem too many adults.6
During high school, stress seems to be common ground for every student. Each student at Naz has his or her own obligations that can affect their levels of stress. Each year of high school brings about new challenges and more responsibilities as students prepare for college. Freshmen enter their first year overwhelmed with change as they try to adjust to new surroundings, new faces, and a new academic schedule. Sophomores become more independent as more is expected of them. Most students, however, refer to junior and senior year as the most stressful. Junior year, the year that colleges focus most upon, includes a substantial amount of homework and projects.39
High school years should be a great experience, but many demands and rapid changes can make them one of the most stressful times of life. Students today face increasing amounts of schoolwork, a rapidly changing curriculum, assignment deadlines and exams; they worry about selecting careers and they must balance schoolwork with sports, hobbies and social life. They have conflicts with parents, friends, siblings; have to cope with unpredictable moods, concerns about appearance, fitting in with a peer group - and also handle love relationships and sexuality. To control symptoms, learn relaxation and mental imagery techniques, then adapt them to improve memory, sleep - and performance in presentations and exams.38
Adults are usually busy as parents and workers and often feel stressed and experience burn-out at times, but we should think that children can experience stress too. Most of us probably think that childhood is a time when children are carefree, having no worries or responsibilities; yet, studies tell that many children experience extreme stress and have similar
symptoms as those of adults. Children do not have the skills to understand or manage their
stress in appropriate ways. We can also help by decreasing the discomfort for the child and, in some instances, by assisting a child or family in dealing with the situation that caused the stress.40
A study was conducted in 240 high school students in a rural region of Tennessee. The majority of students reported the following stressors: academic classwork, relationships with the opposite sex, concern about grades, feelings about personal appearance, pressures to succeed and achieve test-taking, feelings about self-worth and personal respect, peer acceptance, relationships with friends, and “problems” at school. The majority of females also found substance abuse and thoughts about the future to be stressful. The majority of males found school rules, outside employment, concern about financial obligations, and involvement in co-curricular activities to be stressful. More females than males indicated that
they did not cope well with stress.8
In India a huge advantage in the global economy it is only natural that more Indians are opting to educate their children in English medium schools. Enrolment by medium of instruction for high school in India are 95,10,381(2005-06) and 54,66,008 (2003-04). Interestingly, the growth of English is more in non-Hindi speaking states, mostly the southern states which account for over 60% of the students enrolled in English medium in the three- year period. English also accounts for over 90% of the enrolment in the north-eastern states. The spurt in English schooling also means it is now the third biggest medium of instruction for upper primary students after Hindi and Marathi. In 2003, there were more students enrolled in Kannada-medium, Telugu-medium and Tamil-medium schools than in those that taught in English.7
In Chennai, Nationwide enrolment in the upper primary section (class I to VIII) of English medium schools rose 74% between 2003 and 2006. In actual figures, that is a risefrom 54.7 lakh in 2003 to 95.1 lakh students in 2006. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, in that order, account for the highest jump in numbers in English enrolment. TN, which had the largest number of students enrolled in English medium schools in 2003, was outstripped by AP by 2006. That’s because in AP, the number of students enrolled in English medium schools nearly doubled in this period from 10.6 lakh to 20.9 lakh. In TN, the numbers jumped from 14.7 lakh to 17.2 lakh and in Maharashtra from 10.6 lakh
to11.9 lakh.7
A study was conducted by National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health estimated the associations of depression, attention problems, delinquency, and substance use with two indicators of academic achievement (high school GPA and highest degree received) with controls for academic aptitude. Attention problems, delinquency, and substance use were significantly associated with diminished achievement. The results reveals that the social consequences of mental health problems are not the inevitable result of diminished functional ability but, rather, reflect negative social responses.9
India is a developing country under which Bangalore is one of the fast growing cities in India. Based on the above facts and figures, investigator’s personal experience motivated to conduct the present study. The findings will have impact on the level of stress among English medium students. The investigator has living 7 years in Bangalore and during her observation there was lack of health awareness regarding prevention and management of stress, reduction of stress, poor coping strategies and school health services. Hence these observations promoted the investigator to do the present study.
6.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Review of literature is a key step in research process. Review of literature refers to an extensive, exhaustive and systematic examination of publications relevant to the research project. Review of literature an important source for development of research project. It helps to gain the insight into the research problem and provide information what has been done previously. It helps the researchers to provide information of what has been done previously. It helps the researches to be familiar with the existing studies, provide basis for future investigation and helps to develop the methodology, tools for data collection and research design.37
Therefore, the researcher has reviewed literature regarding management of stress by referring books, journals, thesis etc. The related review done for the study has been organized and in presented under the following headings.
6.2.1 Literature related to stress in school children
6.2.2 Literature related to problems associated with stress
6.2.3 Literature related to stress management.
6.2.4 Literature related to prevention and control of stress.
6.2.5 Literature related to teaching strategies and development and evaluation of
information booklet.
6.2.1 Literature related to stress in school children
A study conducted among 461 junior high school students. Questionnaire was conducted on stress and the factors for junior high school first grader of 461 persons of 4 schools. In the question of the questionnaire, 9 items were established as factors concerning the stress. The result reveals that having the action in which the relation between human and human softened stresses and sense of unease, etc. As the reason, stress of the children who mainly had opportunity of conversation with the family was relieved. In the growing process of children, the effect of maternal affection on the psychological reaction is big.10
A study was conducted among Norwegian sample of 15-year-old students 1,670. The objective was to examine the relationship between school-related stress, leisure time physical activity, and adolescent health complaints. Physical activity was also examined as a
moderating variable in the relationship between school-related stress and health complaints.
The results shows that high levels of complaints were associated in a linear relationship with high levels of school-related stress and low levels of leisure time physical activity. Reports of complaints were more closely related to stress for adolescents with low levels of physical activity; thus, physical activity seems to moderate the relationship between school-related stress and health complaints.11
A study was conducted among 300 High school children with an objectives to assess high school stress. The results shows that approximately 55% of the participants had increased stress level due to many demands and rapid changes that cause stressful life, The study concluded that in which students face increasing amounts of school work, rapidly changing curriculum assignment deadlines and exams, these factors make the students worry.12
A study was Conducted among 200 teenagers in a private school with an objectives to assess academic stress and coping and to implement teaching programme on coping skills. The results reveals that most of the students had reported finding with new friends. (76.2%). (63.4%) adjustment; (72.1%) new responsibilities. The frequent academic source of stress was increased due to class work load and the study concluded that teenagers are exposed to variety of stressors. Such as establishment of student support system and improving to equip them with effective coping skills.13