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The Effect of Academic Stress Upon the Anxiety and Depression Levels of
Gifted High School Students
Mary Yadusky-Holahan and William Holahan
Gifted Child Quarterly 1983; 27; 42
DOI: 10.1177/001698628302700107
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Citations http://gcq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/27/1/42
Despite the paucity of empirical data concerning the The central goal of this study was to compare the effects
incidence and severity of anxiety and depression among of living alone or with a roommate upon anxiety and depres-
gifted and motivated students, the literature suggests that sion in the achievement-oriented, high-ability student. The
three factors encourage these stress reactions. First, these project was undertaken in an effort to isolate the effects
students create their own pressure to succeed by setting of living without a roommate on students under stress from
high, sometimes unrealistic, goals for themselves (Gissrau, multiple sources. The data will be used to assist the school
1976). &dquo;The goals of these driven achievers are always one in targeting the emotional needs of students and developing
step ahead of what they can produce, so they frequently programs to meet them.
have a sense of failing to meet their impossibly high expec- It was anticipated that all of the students would report
tations. Such students are in a constant state of stress, increased anxiety and depression in relation to increased
even though they are the winners in the system&dquo; (Bovilsky, academic pressure. In addition, higher levels of anxiety
1982). and depression were expected among students in single
Secondly, parents and teachers of the academically rooms, due to reduced peer contact and support. Students
talented also exert unusual pressures to succeed (Rothney who elected to live in single rooms were expected to create
& Koopman, 1958). The student’s actual or perceived both a physical and interpersonal distance from their peers
inability to meet the expectations of these significant and thus find themselves excluded from the type of dyadic
others may increase the potential for higher levels of anxiety friendship experienced by roommates. Moreover, the
and depression (Gowan & Bruch, 1971). personality traits which initially motivated certain students
Finally, the stress that these students experience may to live alone may also contribute to their isolation. A final
be compounded if the school they attend is residential. In hypothesis was that students in single rooms would report
April of 1981, the Independent School Health Association a greater number of age-specific problems, since one con-
sponsored a conference on stress in residential schools sequence of reduced peer contact is a reduced opportunity
to examine this problem. They concluded that the primary for social comparison.
effect of a residential environment on the high-ability,
achievement-oriented student is prolonged stress due to Method
the inability of the student to escape academic and social Sample
pressures (Bovilsky, 1982; Carapetyan, 1982). Sixty twelfth-grade students from a public residential
Peer support is a crucial mechanism for dealing with the
high school served as subjects. All of these students, by
stress and subsequent anxiety and depression created by virtue of having completed a lengthy and competitive appli-
these three factors. Adolescent friendships provide a forum cation process and subsequently being invited to attend the
for ventilating feelings which result from stress (Chaikin
school, were identified as highly motivated to achieve
& Derlega, 1974; Cozby, 1973; Rubin & Shenker, 1978). academically and as having exceptional intellectual ability.
Peers also provide a vehicle for self-evaluation, through The sample in this study consisted of thirty students
a comparison of the self to similar others. Through this
(19 male, 11 female) who had selected single rooms and
process of social comparison, unrealistic expectations thirty students with chosen roommates (18 male,
may be recognized and modified (Bleda & Castore, 1973; 12 female). All the students at the school living alone were
Evans, 1974; Festinger, 1954). included, whereas those with roommates were selected
A major forum for peer contact and support at a board-
using a standard table of random numbers. Possible envi-
ing school is the residence hall. Existing evidence suggests ronmental effects were controlled by matching an equal
that college students living in dormitories form friend- number of students having roommates with those living
ships on the basis of the proximity of their rooms (Ecklund, alone, by both residence hall and floor. Also, no pairs of
Charlis, et al., 1972; Menne & Sinnett, 1971; Priest & roommates were allowed to participate in the study, so
Sawyer, 1967). In addition, roommates become closer that roommate conflicts would not be duplicated.
friends than nonroommates (Newcomb, 1961; Rubin &
Shenker, 1978), particularly when they choose each other Instruments
rather than being arbitrarily paired (Hill & Stull, 1981; Three instruments were used in this study. Each was
Wheaton, 1974). administered to students at the school in a single group
*The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the excellent editorial setting. The data were gathered in three separate tests
assistance of H. Scott Swartzwelder and Jane Collins. over a period of five months.
42
and overt anxiety. The normative sample of high school .01), males without roommates (t = 1.85, df 36,
p < =
ard deviation of 11.4 for males and a raw score mean of 33.1 .05). At testing three, significantly higher DACL scores
p<
with a standard deviation of 11.6 for females. were also reported, compared to testing one, in males with
The Mooney Problem Check List (Mooney & Gordon, roommates (t 2.47, df 34, p < .05) and in females without
= =
1950 revised) is a self-administered survey of personal roommates (t 2.34, df 20, p < .05). In comparing testing
= =
Results
43
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No significant differences between depression scores Mooney Problem Check List
of the four groups were observed within either testing one Similarities were noted between groups regarding cate-
or two. At the third testing, however, females without
gories with the greatest and least concentration of items
roommates generated higher depression scores than both marked. For all four groups the two categories expressed
females with roommates (t = 2.49, df = 21, p < .05) and as least problematic were (1) Home and
males without roommates (t = 1.70, df = 28, p < .05). Family and
(2) Curriculum and Teaching Procedures. In the four
IPAT Anxiety Scale categories having the greatest number of concerns identi-
Table 2 illustrates the relative homogeneity of reported fied, two were common f6,~ill groups: (1) Social and Recrea-
tional Activities and (2) Health and Physical Development.
anxiety scores in the four groups of students over several
As indicated by these results, the four groups were gener-
testings. None of the groups differed significantly from
national normative high-school groups and no rise in ally in concordance as to their perceived problems.
An item analysis, a portion of which is illustrated in
anxiety scores was observed as the semester progressed.
The Pearson coefficient of correlation between mean Table 3, revealed several unexpected differences both
DACL scores and mean IPAT Anxiety Scale scores was between groups and between sexes. Females without
0.56. roommates described themselves losing their temper,
as
being nervous, feeling inferior, moody, worrying, not living
up to their ideal, and wanting more time to themselves
Table 2
much more frequently than females with roommates. A
less extreme, though similar, trend was found among males.
Mean IPAT Anxiety Scale Score with Standard Deviation
for Student Groups at Three Testing Times
Discussion
Consistent with the hypothesis of this study, the depres-
sion reported by all groups, except females with room-
mates, was significantly higher during the second testing
than during baseline. Two groups, males with roommates
and females without roommates, reported
significantly
higher depression at the third testing compared to baseiine.
In addition to the three factors discussed above, viz.,
unrealistic goals, high expectations from significant others,
and the residential setting, stressors specific to this school
Table 3 situation may have contributed to this heightened depres-
Percentage of Students in Each Group Responding sion. These stressors include a demanding academic
to Specific Mooney Problem Checklist Item workload, a change in social status through being removed
from a school where they were the brightest to one in which
they are merely average, and the feeling that it would be
an admission of failure to their
community should they
be unable to meet the rigorous standards for retention.
The group of females with roommates did not respond
to these stressors as predicted. There are several possible
explanatory factors. First, persons in distress seek out
others similar in personality in order to compare reactions
(Firestone, Kaplan, & Russell, 1973; Gerard & Rabbie,
1961; Miller & Zimbardo, 1966; Rabbie, 1963; Schachter,
1959). Secondly, women report more intimate friendships
with their roommates than do men (Hill & Stull, 1981).
Finally, female friendships involve more sharing of confi-
dences than do those between males (Booth, 1972; Rubin
& Shenker, 1978). It is possible that females undergoing
stress during times of increased academic pressure
experience an elevated need for affiliation and this need
is satisfied by the emotional support and opportunities
for social comparison provided by a roommate.
Expanding this conclusion, it is possible to explain why
females without roommates meet the predictions under
the hypothesis that students in single rooms would report
44
45
Book Reviews
Reva Jenkins-Friedman
MAKER, C. JUNE. Curriculum Development for the ings which grapple with curriculum design theory as applied
Gifted. Rockville, MD: Aspen Systems Corporation, 1982; to the education of the gifted.
392 pp. $32.50. True, most books on the education of the gifted have a
section or sections devoted to &dquo;differentiated curriculum&dquo;
The purpose of C. June Maker’s book &dquo;is to provide but these are, with very few exceptions, atheoretical and
teachers and prospective teachers of the gifted with a discuss and describe practice. It is not that program
comprehensive handbook of theoretical and practical planners are unmindful of the critical importance of differ-
approaches to teaching these special children&dquo; (p. ix). She tiated curriculum-few terms are used more frequently-
achieved her purpose although she is much shorter on but rather that the basic significant questions of curriculum
theory-particularly curriculum theory-than she is on design are ignored or dealt with inadequately. We enrich
practice. Having said this, it must be observed that the or accelerate but we do not create total curriculum designs
field of gifted education in general tends to be short on and learning environments which would provide the gifted
curriculum theory as demonstrated by the dearth of writ- with adequate and appropriate experience for nurturing
46