Dr. Samudra Senarath Department of Educational Psychology Relationship between Examination Stress and Coping Strategies among the Advanced Level Students Dr. Samudra Senarath Department of Educational Psychology

Rational of the Study Examination stress is a psychological and physiological condition in which an individual suffers a lot of tension and worry. Common stress symptoms are irritability, inability to concentrate , difficulties with memory , restlessness, headaches, difficulty in sleeping External factors that disrupt to the balance of the students’ body and mind Trigger Factors : parenting influence students goals social factors

What happens in exam stress in stress Threat/ Stressor Physiological reactions Fight/ Flight Coping with the stress Stressor Persists Resources are depleted Initial autonomic reactions persists Physical & Psychological complications set in Resources Deplete

Research Objectives and Methodology To identify the pre -examination stress level of the A/L students To examine the coping function to determine which coping behaviour worked best for buffering the impact of stress on psychological health Sample survey design and random sampling technique were employed (200 students: maths science, commerce arts) Instruments: Child and Adolescents Stress Scale (α=.84) Child Coping Questionnaire (α=.79)

Theoretical aspects of Auto regulation (Schöder) Coping Subject Social Context Person Object Problem Group Emotion Regulation Reflexive Activity Social Regulation Issue- related Regulation Regulation of the Human-Environment-System Regulation and Stabilization of the Self-System

Positive ways of coping Coping with stress Positive ways of coping Most effective method (Gross, 2001) Problem focused coping (Do something to control the situation) Gaining sense of control make the event less stressful The event becomes more predictable and the stress is reduced (Glass, Singer, & Pennebaker, 1977) Coping by reappraisal—Reframing the meaning of the event Recover from tragedies and defeats (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004) Does not solve the underlying problem Emotion focused coping Help to manage the reaction to stress

Results of the Study

Physical Symptoms

Emotional Difficulties

Results of the Study Conclusion Students have shown mild-moderate stress symptoms before the A/L Exams and Students managed their stress by using different coping strategies. Needs proper counselling service for students. And it is also need awareness program for the A/L students, and their parents and school principals, teachers about the exam stress Effortful Disengagement Coping : Increases in stress symptoms were significantly correlated with effortful disengagement coping sub scale (r= .35, P=.02) Emotional focused coping : These sub items correlated results associated significant for the Pre Exam Stress (r=.68, p=.001) Problem Focused coping: Students showed significant relationship with exam stress ( r=.48, p=.002) Support-seeking coping : students have applied support seeking methods to decrease their stress such as Boodi pooja, chanting (r= .66, p .001)

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