Perceived academic pressure and mental health in adolescents: a cross-sectional study examining individual vulnerabilities and school climate.

Abstract

Background: Concerns have been raised about the impact of academic pressure on adolescents' mental health. Growing evidence suggests that perceived academic pressure reflects the interaction between contextual demands and individual vulnerabilities, conceptualized as the convergence of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. Furthermore, the impact of achievement goals and school climate on perceived pressure has been highlighted. This study examined the association between perceived academic pressure and individual vulnerabilities, and the role of school climate and achievement goals.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. At nine schools in Piedmont, Italy, participation was proposed to all the students from the first year of middle school to the fourth year of high school (aged 10-17 years). Students completed self-reported questionnaires assessing perceived academic stress (10-point Likert scale), individual vulnerabilities (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ), school climate (Multidimensional School Climate Questionnaire, MSCQ), achievement goals (Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised, AGQ-R), and reported the number of school evaluations in the previous month as an indicator of objective academic pressure. Linear mixed-effect models examined the association between individual vulnerabilities and perceived academic stress, accounting for classroom clustering and adjusting for age, gender, school climate, and monthly evaluation number. Mediation analysis tested whether school climate represented a significant indirect path in this association. Linear regressions tested associations between achievement goals and stress, and between vulnerabilities and school climate.

Results: A total of 889 students participated (58.7% female). Higher individual vulnerability (SDQ score) was associated with higher perceived academic stress (standardized β 0.24, p<.001) and poorer perceived school climate (standardized β 0.26, p<.001). The association between perceived pressure and vulnerabilities was stronger than that between perceived and objective pressure and school climate partially accounted for this association (average causal mediation effect 0.11, p<.0001). Perceived academic pressure was negatively associated with mastery-approach (standardized β -0.07, p=.033) and positively with performance-avoidance (standardized β 0.14, p=.002).

Conclusions: Perceived academic pressure is more strongly associated with individual vulnerabilities than with objective pressure, and co-varies with perceptions of school climate. Achievement goal orientations are differentially linked to this experience, with performance-avoidance and low mastery-approach representing potential risk factors. School-based interventions should address emotional vulnerabilities, motivational processes, and school climate to promote student well-being.