Relación entre ansiedad y rendimiento académico en alumnado de secundaria

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and academic performance among secondary school students. The research design was cross-sectional and correlational, with a probability sample of 156 randomly selected students. The data for the study were collected using the Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS-R) and a sociodemographic data questionnaire. Academic performance was calculated based on the students’ grade average. The sample had the same number male and female students, with an average age of 13.10 years (SD = 0.94): 69.23% from first year, 19.23% from second year and 11.54% from third year, all from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara in Mexico. The results found indications of anxiety among 28.8% of the students. The average academic grade was 8.6 (SD = .82): 42.3% high academic performance, 38.5% medium performance and 19.2% low performance. A higher average anxiety score was observed among students with a low performance, compared to those with a medium or high performance. When comparing the groups of students with different academic performance with the presence or absence of anxiety, a statistically significant correlation was found. The correlation between greater anxiety and lower academic performance suggests the need for periodic assessment of both anxiety and other psycho-affective disorders among students through psychoepidemiological surveillance, in conjunction with school performance, in order to put in place preventive and remedial action strategies.