Academic Stress as Correlate of Aggressive Behaviours Among In-School Adolescents in Anambra State

Abstract

This study utilized correlational research design to investigate academic stress as correlate of aggressive behaviours among in-school adolescents in Anambra state. Five research questions guided the study, and five null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study consisted of all the 12,172 Senior Secondary (SS2) students in the 263 public secondary schools in Anambra state. The sample for the study consisted of 750 SS2 students drawn from the population of the study using simple random sampling technique. Two sets of questionnaire were used to collect data for the study. The two sets of questionnaire are titled “Academic Stress Questionnaire” (ASQ) and “Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire” (BPAQ). The instruments for data collection were validated by three experts, two in the Department of Educational Foundations and one in the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education but an expert in Educational Psychology all from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach’s alpha method and the alpha coefficient was 0.80 for ASQ and 0.78 for BPAQ. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation for answering the research questions while P-value of Correlation Coefficient was used for testing the hypotheses. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that academic stress positively correlated with aggressive behaviours of in-school adolescents in Anambra State. The researchers recommended among others that teachers should evolve pedagogical skills that will enable in-school adolescents to manage their frustration and by extension reduce their proclivity to aggressive behaviours.