Coping Strategies of Under Achiever School Students Differing in Parental Anxiety and Test-Anxiety

Abstract

Present study,is an attempt to assess the effect of parental anxiety and test anxiety on the problem focused coping strategies of underachiever high school students. More appropriately, the study has been conducted on sample of N = 160 underachiever school students selected from the preliminary sample of 1600 students (800 Boys and 800 girls) from Himachal Pradesh in India. Parental Anxiety was identified by using STAI (HX-1) whereas the Test Anxiety was assessed by using Sud & Sud (1997) test anxiety inventory. Further, the underachiever students were identified by drawing a regression line based on their GMAT and academic achievement scores and was later tested in coping through Cope Inventory. Beside inferential statistics 4×2×2, ANOVA was employed. Result revealed that the main effect of parental anxiety on the measure of problem focused coping was found as non-significant F (3, 144) = 1.70, p>.05. But, the main effect of test-anxiety was on the measure of problem focused coping was found F (1,159) = 46.56, p<.01as statistically significant wherein low test anxious students cope better. Similarly, the main effect of Gender F (1,159) = 138, p<.01 on the problem focused coping was found as statistically significant wherein the boys cope better with the problems. In the same tune three way interaction between Parental Anxiety x Test-anxiety x Gender was also found F (3, 144) = 5.62, p<.01 as statistically significant that somehow reflects the efficacy of the variables understudy behind problem focused coping of underachiever school students. Efforts are required to provide appropriate guidance and counseling to both parents as well as test anxious students so as to enhance their skill and achievements. Further, need is to deal effectively with underachiever students by applying humanitarian approach, counseling tactics and significant favorable government policies, so as to bring them in a main stream for the future prospectus and progress of the nations.