Examination Stress, Stress Management Strategies, and Counseling Needs of College Level Students in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the students who achieve the best results at the College Level examination have the opportunity to enter the national university system. This examination is crucial for most students as it represents the gateway to getting into university. The main purpose of this study was to identify the nature of the stress triggers causing high pre-exam stress levels and to investigate the stress management strategies utilized by students in the Arts, Maths, Science, and Commerce streams. The sample consisted of 168 College Level students selected using a random sampling method, from six popular 1AB schools. A child and adolescent stress scale was utilized to measure pre-exam stress. A children‘s coping questionnaire was also developed by the researcher to measure coping strategies, including problem-focused, support-seeking and religious coping strategies, stress trigger factors, the nature of counseling and demographic information. The findings of the study showed that students presented a mild-moderate level of stress one month before the exam. Some of the stress triggers were identified as high self-expectation, a large volume of learning content and a heavy academic workload. These were shown to be prominent factors affecting the stress levels of the students in all the subject streams. Other causes of stress included the parental pressure to study, difficulty in understanding learning content and low marks. Having to go for extra tuition could also increase the students‘ stress level, especially those in the Science and Maths streams, as compared to students in the other streams. Of the Maths and Science students, a small percentage had excessive worry about low marks and their selected subjects, in contrast to their counterparts in Arts and Commerce. According to the results of the independent sample t-test, the female students‘ experienced greater physical and psychological stress than the male students. The female students also evinced more psychological than physical stress, as compared to the male students. The students were observed to be already employing certain coping mechanisms to combat their stress, as for instance getting involved in social support activities and problem-solving or engaging in religious activities such as Bodhi puja, chanting of sutra and praying. 45% of the sample used the services of the school counselors. It is important to establish a professional counseling service in the school system with as many well-trained counselors as are required, to meet the counseling needs of students. Other suggestions include conducting and promoting psychological awareness training programs including exam preparation, time management, problem solving, and memory techniques. A stress management workshop should be compulsory for all schools offering College Levels as this would also help reduce the level of psychological stress among students and enhance their coping skills to deal with stress before and during stressful exam situations