Abstract
Academic stress is a worldwide issue that impacts adolescent students and their educators. While educators may assist students in managing academic stress, they must first recognize students’ feelings of academic stress. Consequently, both recognizing and addressing academic stress were considered in this study. The theoretical framework consisted of a combination of Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress to frame students’ experiences of academic stress, and Dweck’s theory of mindset to consider educators’ perspectives about students’ growth. Participants included 10 veteran educators, selected through purposeful sampling. A hermeneutical phenomenological qualitative design was applied. Data collection methods included interviews, focus groups, and letters of advice. Analysis through phenomenological reduction revealed that educators recognized academic stress through observations of students’ behaviors and body language. Educators intervened to support students experiencing academic stress with coping strategies, mindset strategies, and strategies they had developed over their careers. The results of this study include a collection of strategies veteran educators apply to recognize and address academic stress in adolescent students.
Plain language summary
Academic stress impacts adolescent students worldwide. Educators may support stressed students by recognizing behaviors as symptoms of academic stress. Then, they may intervene with strategies to mitigate students’ academic stress. Veteran educators recommend mindset strategies, coping strategies, and strategies they developed over their careers to support students facing academic stress.
Introduction
Students worldwide experience the impacts of academic stress. According to a survey of students from 27 countries, one in three adolescents have experienced academic stress (Pascoe et al., 2020). Academic stress may lead to decreased academic achievement, long-term mood disorders, and physical illnesses (van Loon et al., 2020). In American, Chinese, and European cultures, strong family support and social connections are associated with lower academic stress, while low socioeconomic status correlates with higher stress levels (Fakapulia et al., 2023; Hope, 2022; Wu, 2023). Thus, students with fewer opportunities for support may experience the highest levels of academic stress. Though some students seek specialized support for academic stress, medical interventions are not always available. In fact, two-thirds of physicians in the United States report a shortage of mental health care professionals for adolescents (Kuntz, 2022). Adequate mental health treatment outside of school is not an option for all students, so communities may benefit from providing educators the supports to recognize and address academic stress during the school day.
Academic stress affects individual students, their peers, and their educators. Student academic stress impacts educators through the manifestation of behaviors in the classroom. Behaviors may be disruptive and decrease students’ academic performance as well as the performance of their peers. Inversely, educators may have a mitigating effect on students’ academic stress (Bottiani et al., 2019; Yeager et al., 2022). Once educators recognize the signs of academic stress, they may offer coping and mindset interventions that could help students manage it (Cale et al., 2020; Stubbs et al., 2022). However, educators may not be aware of the signs of academic stress and could lack the resources to support students. This article provides a context for academic stress in adolescent students and presents a collection of strategies that educators may use to recognize and address student academic stress.
Literature
Academic stress has implications for individuals of all ages, but adolescent students are particularly susceptible to the effects of stress (Cumming et al., 2024). Accordingly, academic stress has been found to be a predictor of depression and anxiety in adolescent students (Buğa & Kaya, 2022). When opportunities for interventions are recognized and utilized, academic stress may be mitigated before it escalates to depression or anxiety. During adolescence, the brain undergoes a period of accelerated growth and development. Therefore, academic stress could be considered an opportunity for positive neuro-development, such as learning skills to cope adaptively and engage with academic activities (Rudland et al., 2020). Due to adolescents’ rapidly growing neurological connections, they are experiencing a prime developmental window for the instruction of coping and mindset skills to manage academic stress.
Academic Stress
Academic stress is the condition or feeling that occurs when an individual perceives the demands of an educational situation extend beyond their personal, social, or psychological resources (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In an appropriate amount, academic stress allows students to engage in positive coping strategies (Turner & Simmons, 2020). However, high levels of academic stress could be harmful for students. Stress increases the release of cortisol into the bloodstream, which may impair emotional functioning. Furthermore, elevated cortisol has been found to predict mental health issues in adolescents (Lecarie et al., 2022). The negative effects of academic stress should not be ignored due to the long-term implications for mental health.
Academic stress is among the top three stressors for adolescent students, along with peer stress and family stress (Moya et al., 2022; Xu et al., 2023). Students may experience academic stress due to self-imposed expectations, parental expectations, perfectionism, or attending a school with a culture centered around performance instead of effort (Haspolat & Yalçın, 2023). For example, in the United States, academic stress became a prevalent issue following the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. After NCLB passed, the focus of education shifted from student growth to testing scores. As standardized testing became a common part of public-school culture, academic pressure increased for students and teachers (Neibauer, 2019).
Some levels of academic stress generate academic proficiency and boost learning competency (Khan & Shamama-Tus-Sabah, 2020). Conversely, high levels of academic stress may have a negative impact on adolescent students’ current and future success in school (Regalado, 2024). Left unmanaged, academic stress during adolescence could lead to other physical and psychological health issues including depressive symptoms, substance abuse, internalizing disorders, mental illnesses, and decreased sleep (Lecarie et al., 2022; Linden & Stuart, 2020; Puolakanaho et al., 2019; Wong & Chapman, 2024). Teaching students to manage academic stress during adolescence could help students increase academic achievement and reduce long-term physical and mental health implications.
During adolescence, students enter a high-risk period for developing academic stress-related disorders (Cumming et al., 2024). Simultaneously, adolescents begin a period of accelerated brain growth, wherein they develop the self-regulation skills to manage academic stress (da Silva & Maia, 2022). As regulation skills are still underdeveloped in adolescents, educators may see academic stress manifest in students’ emotions as anger or anxiety. Adolescent students experiencing academic stress react in different ways, and teachers working at public middle schools in the United States identify only 40% of students experiencing stress (Sanchez et al., 2022).
Researchers have examined many facets of academic stress, including how adolescent students manage academic stress; the relationship between academic stress, physical activity, and diet; and the impacts of applying mindfulness to reduce stress (Chacón-Cuberos et al., 2019; Gonçalves et al., 2019; Stapp & Lambert, 2020). However, there is a gap in the literature surrounding educators’ perspectives of recognizing and addressing academic stress in adolescent students (Wuthrich et al., 2020). The impacts of academic stress are experienced similarly by adolescents across the world, as evidenced through studies based in Canada, China, India, Europe, and the United States (Cale et al., 2020; Luo et al., 2020; Nagle & Sharma, 2021; Wuthrich et al., 2020). Thus, revealing the strategies educators use to recognize and address student academic stress may have a significant impact on the current and future academic success of students globally.
Theoretical Framework
The transactional model of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and the theory of mindset (Dweck, 2006) have been discussed in studies conducted to investigate academic stress and coping (Gonçalves et al., 2019; Khan & Shamama-Tus-Sabah, 2020; Yeager et al., 2022). Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress was paired with Dweck’s growth mindset theory to form the theoretical framework for this study as both theories have established success in supporting investigations of academic stress. The transactional model of stress offers a frame for how students physiologically cope with a stressor, and the theory of mindset offers a context for how students think about academic stress. When the theory of mindset is applied to academic stress, educators may teach students to adjust their thought response to stressful academic situations (Yeager & Dweck, 2020). According to the theory of mindset, students may attain a growth mindset when they are prompted to frame their thinking about tasks in ways that emphasize the process of learning and deemphasize task performance measures, such as grades. After students adjust their thought responses, they may learn to positively engage in the coping process by replacing maladaptive coping strategies with adaptive coping strategies.
Coping
Today, it is widely accepted that stress may be managed through coping strategies (Zakaria et al., 2021). Coping is the method an individual uses to return to a state of homeostasis just as in biology organisms strive to return to equilibrium (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Unlike emotional regulation, which is continual, coping is a conscious effort during a situational time of duress (Fiat et al., 2023). Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional model of stress, also known as the theory of appraisal, stress, and coping, explains how individuals assess and react to challenging tasks. When a stressful situation occurs, an individual determines if it is a challenge, a threat, or a potential cause of harm or loss. As that determination manifests, problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies surface (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Stubbs et al., 2022). Problem-focused coping strategies are adaptive coping mechanisms and may reduce stress as well as support students’ sustained participation in academic tasks. Emotion-focused coping strategies are maladaptive coping mechanisms. They include procrastination and avoidance and could reduce stress at the onset, but stress may increase as a deadline approaches (Monat et al., 1972; Soon et al., 2023). As individuals encounter stressors, they can have multiple reactions simultaneously or as time progresses (Lazarus et al., 1985; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). For example, what a student first experiences as shock at the expectations of an assignment may evolve into acceptance and problem solving. As the transactions between stress, appraisal, and coping happen, stress could evolve into a plan to meet a challenge. Students who perceive an academic stressor as a challenge may acquire a better physiological position to apply adaptive coping strategies than their peers who react as if threatened. In order to shift students’ perspectives, educators may intervene in the appraisal stage of the transactional model of stress and apply the theory of mindset paired with coping skills to mediate academically stressful situations.
Mindset
The theory of mindset, also referred to as growth mindset theory or incremental theory, states that people can grow, change, and revise their judgments and abilities over time (Dweck, 2006). Academically, this means that students can develop new skills and are not limited by their current level of ability (Yeager & Dweck, 2020). When students learn through practice and repetition, neurological connections in the brain grow, connect, and become stronger (Dweck, 2006). Students may be taught to apply a growth mindset to emotions related to academic tasks (Wong & Chapman, 2024). For example, students can be taught that stress is normal and heightens alertness for the brain to learn (Dweck & Yeager, 2018). Students’ adaptive coping skills may increase when they approach academic tasks with a growth mindset (Parada & Verlhiac, 2022). Accordingly, orienting students toward a growth mindset before administering an intelligence test or academic challenge results in higher success (Yeager et al., 2022). When students are taught the benefits of stress and the tools to manage it, they may grow in their ability to cope.
Mindset impacts brain chemistry during and after the appraisal of a stressor. Specifically, the brain’s response to stress triggers the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which releases hormones including cortisol (Cumming et al., 2024). Lee et al. (2019) discovered that when faced with academic stress, students who held a fixed mindset experienced higher cortisol levels than their peers who held a growth mindset. They noted that the high cortisol levels may last into the next day, further impacting the student. Cortisol at low levels increases memory and cognitive ability, but at high levels, cortisol may impair brain functioning. Students who hold a growth mindset may experience lower levels of cortisol spikes than their peers with fixed mindsets, so instructing students about the growth mindset could help them maintain healthy cortisol levels. Yeager et al. (2022) found that instructing participants of a synergetic mindset—a combination of the growth mindset and the idea that stress can enhance performance—decreased cortisol levels throughout the day in public high school students from low-income communities. Using a growth mindset and framing academic challenges as opportunities to engage with learning may increase academic performance and reduce academic stress in secondary students (Yeager & Dweck, 2020). Moreover, combining the growth mindset with coping strategies that help students regulate their stress responses could mitigate academic stress (Yeager et al., 2022).
Materials and Methods
For this study, I applied qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology to examine the lived experience of educators who sought to recognize and address student academic stress.
The study included 10 veteran educator participants with a minimum of 10 years of experience working with adolescents in an educational setting (see Table 1). My recruitment email specified that educators have 5 or more years of experience, but responses yielded more experienced educators. So, I included participants with over 10 years of experience each. I obtained IRB approval prior to selecting participants through homogeneous sampling (see Appendix 1). All participants provided informed consent by signing a consent form (see Appendix 2). Each educator participant engaged in all three methods of data collection. Interviews and focus groups were conducted, transcribed, member checked, and coded. Letters of advice were also collected and coded. Then, Moustakas (1994) method of analysis for phenomenological data was applied to develop themes and subthemes (see Appendix 3).
Participants.
Setting and Participants
A suburban public middle school in the northeastern United States was selected for this study due to the number of veteran educators employed and the similarities with other public middle schools in the region. The school district was average for the state in demographics, size, and achievement. Adolescent students at the study sight had reported increased stress through an anonymous bi-yearly survey. The survey data from the study site correlated with a regional increase in student stress (MetroWest Health Foundation, 2019). Results of this study are generalizable to secondary educators in the northeastern part of the United States with implications for many school communities and educators working with adolescent students.
Sampling
Educators were selected for this study through purposeful sampling based on their years of experience, ability to articulate and clearly communicate their thoughts, and their unique perspectives. To recruit participants, a district-wide email was sent out by a gatekeeper (see Appendix 4). Educators volunteered by completing a brief Microsoft form screening survey (see Appendix 5) and were invited to participate through a screening survey response email (see Appendix 6). I had an understanding of nine participants prior to selection because we were staff members in the same district for times ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 years with an average familiarity time of 4.5 years. One participant was an academic support specialist from an outside district that I had met via a former employer 6 years prior to my study. Participants were aware I was conducting a study out of an internal motivation to help students by understanding educators’ experiences recognizing and addressing academic stress. Veteran educators have had time to develop their strategies and acquire knowledge about best practices (Inbar-Furst et al., 2021). Therefore, I applied purposeful sampling and included 10 educators who had at least 10 years of experience working with adolescents in an academic setting. The perspectives of a diverse group of participants were combined to gain an understanding of the composite experience of educators working with students facing academic stress.
Procedures
My motivation for this study was a desire to understand how educators recognized and addressed student academic stress in secondary students. I applied a constructivist framework, listened attentively, and used open-ended questions beginning with broad and progressing toward narrow. After IRB approval and before I began data collection, I ran a pilot study with three educators who did not participate in the formal study. The pilot study helped me rephrase questions for clarity and allowed me to refine my interview skills. Questions were designed to elicit rich data about participants’ experiences. I conducted face-to-face recorded interviews and focus groups in the private setting of each participant’s classroom or office. The participants and researchers were the only individuals in attendance. Interviews ranged from 30 to 60 min, and focus groups averaged 45 min each. Saturation occurred in both interviews and focus groups as the final questions were posed because the last interview questions were designed to elicit any additional information (see Table 2). Inquiry and analysis resulted in a composite representation of how participants viewed the lived phenomena of recognizing and addressing student academic stress.
Central Research Question with Corresponding Interview and Focus Group Questions.
Research Questions
Research questions were developed through the combined lenses of the transactional model of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and the theory of mindset (Dweck, 2006). Research sub-questions were based on the central research question, “How do educators describe experiences of recognizing and addressing academic stress in secondary students?”Table 2 depicts the interview and focus group questions linked to the central research question. Table 3 presents interview and focus group questions categorized by sub-question. The final method of data collection was a letter of advice with the following directions: Please write a letter of advice to another educator who may be struggling with students who exhibit academic stress. Please include information about how to encourage students’ coping processes. Include any of the strategies that have helped you personally as well as any tips for recognizing or addressing student academic stress.
Sub-questions with Corresponding Interview and Focus Group Questions.
Letters are an open-ended form of data collection that provided an opportunity for participants to express ideas related to academic stress that had surfaced after the focus group, or that could be recommended to another educator. Careful examination and consideration of data collected through interviews, focus groups, and letters created a rich composite of the phenomena of working with students facing academic stress.
Data Collection
Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group, and a letter of advice. In-depth interviews are the primary source of data in phenomenological research (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Moustakas, 1994). First, I conducted interviews in in-person, private settings, and recorded each session. Then, I facilitated and recorded focus groups to build on my interview data. During all sessions, I applied active listening strategies to create a conversational feel and elicit rich data. Lastly, participants wrote a hypothetical letter of advice to capture thoughts and recommendations that may have surfaced after the focus group.
Data Analysis
Interview and focus group data were transcribed from audio recordings into Word documents and member checked before analysis. I conducted manual transcriptions by listening to recordings and typing into Word documents, then emailed each participant an attached Word file of his/her transcription. Participants reviewed, edited, and returned their documents. After respondent validation, I began a manual analysis using member checked transcripts and Moustakas’s (1994) method of analysis for phenomenological data (see Dataset for Stressed students: How veteran educators recognize and address academic stress). I read the transcripts for familiarization. Then, I read them a second time and completed horizontalization, treating each statement as equal. Next, I extracted the invariant constituents. To be an invariant constituent, an expression must meet two requirements: it must contain a moment of the experience that is necessary for understanding the experience, and it must be possible to extract and label the expression (Moustakas, 1994). I looked for expressions that related to my topic and framework, as well as seeking to discover new elements of the phenomenon. I examined the expressions to cluster and label them. During this step, I considered the expressions in context to ensure they may be extracted and labeled. I listed the phrases underneath their corresponding question and repeated this for each participant interview, focus group, and letter transcript. I bolded the primary noun, verb, or sub-phrase within the statements. When multiple participants had shared the same words, I cited the phrase with participant numbers, for example, (P1, P2, P3). Words that appeared in multiple collection methods were coded blue. Following the determination of invariant constituents, themes arose from clustered and labeled constituents. Themes are essential to phenomenological research, as themes are understood as the structures of experience (van Manen, 1997). I independently validated themes through a check against the complete dataset. The themes were explicitly expressed or compatible with information expressed in at least two of the data collection methods to be relevant; if they were not relevant, they were deleted. For validation, I reread transcripts to check for accuracy of themes. Finally, I constructed a composite textual description (see Appendix 3).
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness may be achieved in qualitative studies through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability, as established by Lincoln and Guba (1985). I achieved credibility through respondent validation and transferability was created through the collection of deep, rich data and maintenance of an audit trail (See Appendix 7). Dependability was attained through an analysis of all data sets and methods by my peers, who reviewed my analysis process and checked for accuracy between raw data and themes. To create confirmability, I set aside bias through my reflexive journal and maintained a state of epoché to view data from a fresh perspective. For example, a bias that administrators may not support the cost of interventions or have the ability to hire additional staff had to be set aside to realize a full range of policies and practices that could benefit students. The reflective journal helped me accept the data for what it was and lifted the limitations of my interpretation of data. Triangulation was achieved through the inclusion of three data collection methods: interviews, focus groups, and letters of advice. To extend triangulation, I included the participant number and type of data source in my reporting of findings. Ethical consideration was given throughout the study. Participation was voluntary and informed consent was provided. Numbers were assigned to replace participant names for anonymity, and identifying descriptors were omitted from transcripts.
Results
During data analysis, four major themes emerged: presentation of academically stressed students, causes of academic stress, supporting students, and outcomes of addressing academic stress. Educators also reflected on the internal and external causes of academic stress; though they were not directly asked about causes. Evaluation of the data revealed that there are three essential elements for reducing student academic stress. First, educators must recognize behavior, body language, and communications from students and parents as symptoms of stress. Secondly, interventions may be applied to mitigate students’ academic stress. Third, consistent routines and structures should be established and maintained throughout educational communities.
Causes of Academic Stress
When asked how they recognized student academics stress, the participants in this study described identifying the source of the stress as an initial step to addressing it. Both internal and external causes of academic stress were described. The educational impacts of COVID-19 (P1, P2, P3, P7, P8) and poor executive functioning (P1, P3, P4) were named as internal causes of student academic stress.
Educators also identified grades (P2, P6, P7, P9, P10), being overscheduled (P6, P7, P10), and deadlines (P3, P8) as external causes of student academic stress. P8 spoke about the stress deadlines created, “Many students are kind of stressed out. We’re wrapping up a unit.” When a unit ends, assignments from that unit are due, and there is a final assessment. Grades were also cited as a cause of academic stress. P10 explained during her interview how she recently heard from a student’s mom “because he’s freaking out about his grade.” P8 agreed with grades being a stressor, and added, “I think the big thing is really the increase of stress over the last couple of years. . . a lot of it comes from over scheduling.” Students who are overscheduled may start their homework later or not have time to complete it before bedtime. Due to overscheduling, students miss out on time to practice their academic skills.
Presentation of Academically Stressed Students
Educators observed the presentation of students’ academic stress in a range of different ways (see Table 4). Some participants recognized signs of stress through students’ physical and behavioral presentation while others became aware of a student’s stress when the student communicated his or her stress directly or through a parent. While considering the manifestation of student academic stress, P7 explained in her letter, “There are a myriad of ways it will appear in your students, your classroom, and you.” Educators recognize the presentation of academically stressed students through their body language, behaviors, communications, and parents (see Table 5).
Presentation of Academically Stressed Students.
Causes of Academic Stress.
Body Language
Participants agreed that academic stress may be revealed through students’ body language. P7 advised in her letter, “Body language plays an important role in how students show they are stressed.” She continued, “Some students do not yet have the ability to advocate for themselves to express when they are overwhelmed or just not on their A-game so it is important to notice body language.” During her interview, P4 said, “body language, just like physically moving inward.” P9 explained that sometimes she looked at facial expression, and other times “It could just be their body language.” P2 described to her focus group “it could just be their body language.” In a different focus group, P10 explained, “You can see it—you can see from their face or their body language.” The body language of an academically stressed student appears as “physically moving inward” (P4), “deer in headlights” (P3, P6), “tense” (P10), or “doing nothing,” meaning a disengagement with schoolwork (P7). Educators may recognize a student’s shift in body language as a response to an academic task and suggest coping or mindset strategies.
Behaviors
In addition to body language, educators in this study cited students’ behaviors as indicators of student academic stress. During her interview, P1 stated, “I'm looking at behaviors … are they shutting down, are they acting out?” Educators observed that either overaction or a lack of action could be symptoms of academic stress. “Shutting down” was described as a symptom of academic stress during interviews (P3, P5, P9). P8 defined shutting down in her letter: “When an outgoing student is suddenly quiet, a student has their head down, is walking/moving more slowly than usual, or eyes are glazed over it is often a sign that something is off.” Students may also “act out” (P1), offer “excuses to leave the room” (P 2, P 4), “fidget” (P3, P8), or “shut down” (P1, P2, P5, P9).
Direct Communication
Sometimes, students or parents directly communicate a student’s academic stress through email or a phone call (P3, P5, P6, P7, P9, P10). Educators observed that student academic stress and parent stress are related. This interaction was referred to as a reciprocal stress loop: “Students are stressed and overwhelmed and then the parents get stressed, and the teacher gets stressed and their stress increases” (P6). When educators recognize that behaviors are a result of academic stress, they may respond accordingly. If only the behavioral symptoms are addressed, the student could miss an opportunity to grow in ability to manage academic stress.
Supporting Academically Stressed Students
After educators identified academic stress, they offered interventions to students. Depending on the source of stress and the situation, educators used mindset strategies, coping strategies, or other strategies they have developed over the years to address student academic stress. In addition to strategies, educators shared recommendations for school-based supports. They also recognized themselves as supports, and emphasized students’ need for educators who are not stressed out. P10 explained, “Stressed out teachers aren’t helpful to children either. Some kids are very empathetic and will ask how they could help, or other kids would be like, ‘Great, how can we add to this?’” P9 spoke about the importance of interventions during adolescence, “What’s going to happen by the time they get to high school? Or college? So, we have to help them figure it out now. Now is the best time.”
Mindset Strategies
Participants shared that educators and parents who support a growth mindset were critical to students’ development of a growth mindset (P1, P4, P6, P7, P9, P10). P4 explained, “You need the teachers to also have a growth mindset and live that and breathe that and use the common language.” The participants in this study were asked how they identified a fixed mindset and helped students develop a growth mindset. They frequently identified the fixed mindset through statements such as, “I can’t” (P1, P2, P4, P8, P10), “I’m not good at” (P2, P3, P10), and “I don’t know” (P8). Participants also identified that “shutting down” behaviors are a manifestation of a fixed mindset (P2, P5, P7, P9, P10). Many participants taught the growth mindset by comparing students’ ability to grow in academics to growth in other areas of their lives. Educators often applied analogies (P1, P2, P4, P6, P9, P10) to help students understand that the learning process involves practice and growth over the years. Sports, musical instruments, and video game analogies were cited as resources for explaining the concept of the growth mindset. P2 explained: You play an instrument, and you have to practice regularly to get better. It’s the same thing. This is new to you, give yourself a break. It’s going to take a while before we get into the groove, so to speak.
In addition to using analogies, educators explained that the brain grows in neurons and synapses, not physical size. P4 described brain growth to students to encourage them to continue putting in effort. She taught her students, “Your brain is like a muscle and you’re constantly trying to grow your brain.” Educators also spoke about pointing out students’ past growth so they could foster a belief in their ability to continue to grow in the future (P1, P2, P3, P10). Portfolios are one system educators apply to allow students to look back and reflect on growth. During her focus group, P3 said, “Getting them to go back and almost giggling at their previous work. They could recognize how far they had come and that was a really good feeling.” When students reviewed their work, many expressed a recognition of their abilities and were more invested in their future growth.
Coping Strategies
Educators also supported students who were experiencing academic stress through the interventions of teaching and suggesting coping strategies. Participants suggested teaching students to apply coping strategies along with an explanation that a shift in focus may distract the brain from reacting to a stressor. P7 explained to students that coping strategies are used when “we need to take some space from the problem because when we’re upset it’s hard for us to engage.” Half of the participants suggested breathing or specific breathing exercises to support students’ coping (P1, P3, P5, P7, P10). The participants explained the purpose of breathing exercises was to distract the brain, attain a calmer physiological position, and then return to the task. P10 shared that breathing “gets one thinking about something different.”
Participants expressed an understanding that brains do not work well when stressed. P5 explained to her focus group that coping strategies must be taught proactively, because it is easier to apply strategies that “are rote, so you need to be practicing.” In a moment of stress, a student may not be able to apply a new coping strategy, so practice is essential. To help students apply coping strategies, participants in this study provided students breaks within their classrooms (P4, P9, P10). Some educators had areas of their classrooms where students could relocate for a break from their work. P4 described her classroom with a “sensory table” where students could relocate, regulate, and return to their work.
Educator Strategies
In addition to coping and mindset strategies, veteran educators develop a toolbox of strategies over their careers. The participants in this study cited relationship building as foundational to addressing student academic stress (P1, P3, P5, P6, P7, P10). In her letter, P10 wrote, “Building relationships with students and supporting them academically and emotionally will create a safe learning environment.” After developing a relationship, students may be more receptive to learning and applying strategies. Additionally, educators whom had built relationships with students could often determine if the student needed mindset, coping, or a different type of strategy. In some cases, educators provided options and students selected the strategies that they felt would be most effective for themselves. Participants also shared that there is value in explaining brain functioning to students to help them understand the effects of stress (P2, P4, P9). P4 described teaching students, “Your brain is made of neural circuits, and during these teenage years they are firing like crazy. . . it’s your brain doing that, and it makes you feel like you are about to explode.” Her explanation helped students understand the feelings that accompany stress. After students recognized they were experiencing a response to academic stress, then they could apply coping skills. Veteran educators also suggested normalizing stress (P1, P6, P8). P6 shared, “The best thing we can do, as educators, is show students that experiencing stress is okay and that everyone experiences stress.” In a letter of advice, P1 recommended, “Remind students that we all get stressed, and not all stress is bad. It’s when it interferes with our ability to get anything done that we need to use our coping mechanisms.”
Ideal School Supports
Educators suggested supports that every school should have in place to best address student academic stress (see Table 6). Their recommendations included mental health professionals (P5, P6, P10), consistent systems and structures (P7, P8, P9, P10), and district goals that incorporate steps to manage academic stress (P4, P5, P10). During an interview, P6 said, “Every school should have both a counselor or psychologist and an academic support specialist, at least one of each.” P5 shared a similar idea stating, “Guidance counselors, social workers, school psychologists.” Additionally, the timing of supports was discussed. P9 asked her focus group, “What’s going to happen by the time they get to high school? Or college? So, we have to help them figure it out now. Now is the best time.” Her focus group agreed that supports to manage academic stress should be offered to students during adolescence.
Supporting Academically Stressed Students.
Outcomes of Addressing Academic Stress
Participants reflected on the outcomes of addressing academic stress (see Table 7). Participants reported that addressing academic stress led to a reduction in students’ academic stress. P4 shared, “By the end of the year I didn’t appear to have a lot of stressed-out kids.” Educators also shared the emotional elements of the experience of addressing student academic stress. In her interview, P5 said that addressing academic stress “is hard for teachers … for professionals. And when I say hard, it’s taxing, it’s rewarding. It’s challenging both for the adults and for the kids to figure out how do we navigate this academic rigor.” P2, P3, P7, and P8 each stated noticing increasing frequency in the signs of academic stress over recent years. P7 explained “I think the biggest thought that stands out is like what can we do to fix this? Because I think the longer I’ve been in education, the more I’ve seen that stress increase.” In a separate interview, P2 shared “I think it has increased over the years and I’m hoping the pendulum swings [back].”
Outcomes of Addressing Academic Stress.
Discussion
Based on the data that emerged from this study, I identified four major themes that are essential for reducing student academic stress. First, I found that educators recognized behavior as a symptom of academic stress. Through an understanding of student presentation, speech, and communication, educators became aware that students were experiencing academic stress. Secondly, I found that after educators noticed students’ behavioral symptoms of stress, they applied interventions to help students navigate their academic stress and reengage with their schoolwork. Lastly, I found that participants emphasized the importance of consistent routines and structures to support students experiencing academic stress.
Recognizing Behavior as a Symptom of Academic Stress
According to the data, educators identify and respond to academic stress based on students’ presentations. When students presented unexpected behaviors, such as shutting down or acting out, educators could identify academic stress as a source of their dysregulation. Educators reacted differently to students’ academic stress depending on behaviors. Participants described that some students needed space, some needed a break, and some needed help learning or applying strategies to become unstuck. I found that once educators recognized students’ behaviors, they were able to use their observations and background knowledge about the students to guide them toward appropriate strategies. Had educators not recognized students’ behaviors as manifestations of academic stress, they may not have been able to intervene.
The participants in this study noted that adolescent students may not always be able to verbalize their struggles and advocate for the support that they need. During the appraisal of a stressor, students may perceive an academic task as a challenge, triggering a physiological stress response. Stressors can lead to temporary increases in hormone levels, which typically return to normal once the stressor has been addressed (Mayo Clinic, 2021). As adolescent students experience these physiological effects of stress, they may lack the necessary skills for self-regulation. Educators must understand that students’ may not have control over their reactions to academic stress. Some behaviors that could appear off task, disruptive, or avoidant may be due to an otherwise unseen stress reaction. Noticing and interpreting student behaviors was critical to identifying student academic stress.
Mindset Interventions to Reduce Academic Stress
The participants in this study revealed that subscribing to a growth mindset, teaching growth mindset strategies, teaching students that their brains grow, and pointing out student growth reduces academic stress (see Table 6). Educators often applied analogies to teach students about the growth mindset. After explaining a growth mindset, educators helped students understand that their brain is like a muscle that can be grown with practice. Educators in this study also noted that it takes time for students to develop a growth mindset. They observed that students who are in the fixed mindset state of “I can’t” are not able to directly move to “I can.” Students need time so that they can practice and for their teachers to point out their success along the way. To help students experience success and notice their growth, educators recommended breaking tasks down. Students may not naturally break assignments down or reflect upon their growth. Their teachers may need to support them to separate their work into steps and celebrate their successes.
I found that educators who teach growth mindset strategies reduce academic stress in their students. My research supports previous research that determined educators may teach students to adopt a growth mindset to help them engage in adaptive coping, reduce academic stress, and improve academic skills (Dweck & Yeager, 2018; Parada & Verlhiac, 2022). The findings of my study also support research that found when the growth mindset is applied to academic stress, educators may teach students to adjust their response to stressful academic situations (Yeager & Dweck, 2020). As educators noted in this study, the significant adults in students’ lives need to subscribe to a growth mindset for students to develop it. Parents and community members should receive information about the importance of having a growth mindset, and workshops or presentations should be available for families.
Coping Interventions to Reduce Academic Stress
When participants in this study addressed students’ academic stress they often began with coping strategies. After coping, engagement with the work could take different forms such as strategizing an approach, asking a specific question, or finding the correct resource. However, none of that engagement could happen until students were able to regulate their responses to academic stress. Participants’ observations of students being unable to cope while experiencing a stress response is consistent with the stress response explained in Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional model of stress. According to this theory, as stress arises, individuals determine if that stress is a challenge, a threat, or a potential cause of harm or loss. As individuals appraise the stressor, adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies surface (Lazarus and Folkman’s, 1984). The perception of an academic task as a challenge may elicit adaptive problem-solving skills, whereas viewing academics as a threat may cause maladaptive problem-solving skills. Students who appraised their academic task as beyond their ability or resources reacted to the task as if it were a threat to homeostasis and experienced a physiological reaction resulting in maladaptive coping. Educators had students apply an adaptive coping strategy to give the brain and body time to process their physiological response and return to a regulated state. Once students were regulated, educators helped them reengage with their academic tasks. Often, teachers helped students reappraise the academic task by breaking the task down and reminding students of the skills and resources they had to help them proceed.
Structure and Routines to Reduce Academic Stress
The participants in this study recommended personnel resources, school structures, and school and classroom routines. As participants noted, personnel such as building-based specialists could teach educators strategies for recognizing and addressing academic stress and connect educators and students with resources. Districts facing budgetary restraints may not be able to hire additional employees. In these cases, districts may apply low-cost interventions such as providing educators examples of signs and strategies for recognizing academic stress, and emphasizing a growth mindset in school culture.
The structures of visuals and common language for growth mindset and coping interventions were also recommended. Participants described displaying posters with information about the growth mindset and coping skills in each classroom. P10 suggested to her focus group, “We need to have things in place in all the classrooms so that we recognize stress in the beginning, and we have strategies in the classrooms [and are using] consistent language.” In a separate focus group, P2 suggested, “all teachers in the building having a unified language.” Participants expressed that with repeated exposure, more community members would be likely to remember to apply strategies and use common language. Participants offered the observation that consistency in routines reduces student academic stress as well as educator stress. Additionally, educators vocalized a need for district goals and teacher support with the process of academic stress interventions. P10 shared with her focus group, “We are doing it all on our own, but we need the help. . . to recognize that this is a thing, and this is how we are going to help you help them.”
Practice and Policy in the Educational Environment
Schools should anticipate a continued increase in student academic stress and ensure that they have the staff and educator training to support students experiencing academic stress. Just as schools have guidance counselors and psychologists, regulations should also require secondary schools to have at least one academic support specialist. Academic stress is a specific type of stress and, therefore, requires specific interventions. School psychologists deal with generalized stress and anxiety, but academic support specialists support students who are experiencing purely academic stress before the stress escalates and requires the need of a psychologist. During a focus group, participants shared instances of academic stress evolving to anxiety or depression when unaddressed (P7, P8, P9, P10). This aligns with what was known about stress leading to other mental health conditions (Lecarie et al., 2022). Researchers had found that academic stress may last through postsecondary school and impacts society in terms of reduced student achievement and increased risk of mental and physical illnesses (Gonçalves et al., 2019; Linden & Stuart, 2020). Educator participants agreed that it is important to address academic stress before it escalates or evolves into a mental or physical illness.
Implications
The findings of this study confirmed individuals may be taught how to apply mindsets to academic, social, work-related, and health-related issues (Tejada-Gallardo et al., 2020; Yeager & Dweck, 2020). The participants in this study applied mindset strategies to help students increase their ability to cope with academic challenges. Prior to this research, there was a gap in knowledge about how educators described and coped with student stress (Neibauer, 2019). Participants in this study provided details describing their experiences interacting with students facing academic stress. Data was also collected about how educators coped with students’ academic stress and supported students. Before this study, researchers had found that educators could support students through teaching adaptive coping strategies that may reduce student academic stress (Yeager et al., 2022). However, there was a gap in the literature about how educators recognized academic stress or interacted with secondary students to address it. The findings of this study indicate that educators recognize academic stress through students’ presentations, body language, and direct communication from students or parents. Educator participants supported students facing academic stress through the use of mindset strategies, coping strategies, or their own strategies. Researchers had acknowledged that not all stress is harmful, and stress at some levels can be beneficial for academic success (Rudland et al., 2020). Educator participants confirmed these findings, sharing that stress can be a good thing, and not all stress is bad.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations existed in my investigation of educators’ experiences recognizing and addressing student academic stress. First, this study was limited to educators of students in a suburban Northeastern region of the United States. This constraint was a result of potential participants being located within or in near proximity to the research site. Educators in rural or urban districts, underfunded districts, or districts experiencing major changes may encounter unique challenges related to student academic stress that are not fully captured in this study. Secondly, participants were limited to colleagues or acquaintances who had an understanding of both the research and researcher. As a result of familiarity, all participants were comfortable speaking with me and were open and forthcoming in the information they provided.
The delimitations of this study were created by parameters I established. One delimitation of this study was my choice to select educators who work with secondary students. I selected this parameter because adolescence is the second and last period of rapid brain development wherein coping strategies can be acquired with relative ease when compared to early adulthood. Additionally, I selected veteran educators who had at least 10 years of experience working with students facing academic stress. The cumulative years of experience of educator participants deepened and enriched the quality of data I was able to collect.
Recommendations
Recommendations for future research are derived from the findings, limitations, and delimitations of this study. This study revealed that veteran educators recognize student academic stress and intervene to support students. The findings of this study reflected educators’ needs for professional development around coping strategies, the growth mindset, and brain development. Research involving the impact of professional development opportunities may be beneficial for educators and school communities seeking to select academic stress interventions. During this study, veteran educators shared strategies that had proven effective over the course of their careers. Further research that measures the effectiveness of each strategy is recommended.
Conclusion
Educators recognize academic stress through observations of students’ behavior and body language, or communications from students or parents. This is significant as prior to this study there was a gap in research surrounding how educators recognize academic stress. To support students experiencing academic stress, educators may teach a growth mindset paired with adaptive coping skills. Based on the themes that emerged from this study, three elements are essential for reducing student academic stress: recognizing behavior as a symptom of stress, applying mindset or coping interventions, and maintaining consistent structures and routines. With the application of these three elements, educators may help students mitigate academic stress.
Supplemental Material
sj-pdf-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440251338682 – Supplemental material for Supporting Stressed Students: How Veteran Educators Recognize and Address Academic Stress
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440251338682 for Supporting Stressed Students: How Veteran Educators Recognize and Address Academic Stress by Lisa Konieczna and Gail Collins in SAGE Open
Footnotes
Appendices
Appendix 2: Consent Form
Principal Investigator: Lisa Koniecnza
You are invited to participate in a research study. To participate, you must be 18 years old, have 10 years of experience working as an educator with adolescents in a school setting, and seek to recognize and address student academic stress. Taking part in this research project is voluntary.
Please take time to read this entire form and ask questions before deciding whether to take part in this research
The purpose of the study is to understand educators’ experiences recognizing and addressing academic stress in secondary students. This qualitative phenomenological study will provide missing information about how educators approach the mitigation of student academic stress.
If you agree to be in this study, I will ask you to do the following things:
Participants should not expect to receive a direct benefit from taking part in this study. However, you may benefit from taking part in a collaborative conversation with other secondary educators about how they recognize and address student academic stress.
Benefits to society include creating a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of educator recognition of and responses to student academic stress.
The risks involved in this study are minimal, which means they are equal to the risks you would encounter in everyday life.
The records of this study will be kept private. Research records will be stored securely, and only the researcher will have access to the records.
The researcher serves as a teacher at Anonymous School District. To limit potential or perceived conflicts the study will be confidential, and data will be confidential. This disclosure is made so that you can decide if this relationship will affect your willingness to participate in this study. No action will be taken against an individual based on his or her decision to participate or not participate in this study.
Participation in this study is voluntary. Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your current or future relations with Liberty University or Anonymous Public Schools. If you decide to participate, you are free to not answer any question or withdraw at any time without affecting those relationships.
If you choose to withdraw from the study, please inform the researcher that you wish to discontinue your participation, and do not submit your study materials. Your responses will not be recorded or included in the study.
The researcher conducting this study is Lisa Konieczna. You may ask any questions you have now. If you have questions later,
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study and would like to talk to someone other than the researcher,
Disclaimer: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is tasked with ensuring that human subjects research will be conducted in an ethical manner as defined and required by federal regulations. The topics covered and viewpoints expressed or alluded to by student and faculty researchers are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Anonymous University.
Before agreeing to be part of the research, please be sure that you understand what the study is about. You will be given a copy of this document for your records. If you have any questions about the study later, you can contact the researcher using the information provided above.
I have read and understood the above information. I have asked questions and have received answers. I consent to participate in the study.
The researcher has my permission to audio record me as part of my participation in this study.
____________________________________
Printed Subject Name
____________________________________
Signature & Date
Appendix 3: Theme Development Table
Theme Development.
| Keywords/phrases | Subthemes |
|---|---|
| Major theme 1: Presentation of academically stressed students | |
| Facial expression, “deer in headlights,” head down, flushed face, tense muscles, throwing things, ripping paper, pacing, staring, shrugging, slow to work, absent, panic attack, headaches | Body Language |
| Shutting down, acting out, work avoidance, not trying, procrastination, fidgeting, absenteeism, leaving class frequently, missing/incomplete assignments, crying/tearful, bothering other students, talking over teacher, calling others names, giving up, inability to accept information, not taking risks, asking many questions, quitting | Behaviors |
| Student shares in person; student emails; student says this is overwhelming/hard, saying “I can’t, I’m not good at-, I’m dumb/stupid, I’m not smart enough, it’s too hard, I don’t know”; asked to fix grade, tone | Student Communication |
| Parent emailed/called, more stressed than student, reached out about grade, contacted administrator, reciprocal stress loop, concern about grades, mom stressed | Parents |
| Major Theme 2: Causes of Academic Stress | |
| Executive functioning, organizational skills, impacts of educational “cushioning” during COVID-19, basic needs unmet, autism | Internal |
| Grades, grades closing, due date/deadline approaching, absenteeism, student overscheduled, lack of resources, math, tests, chemistry, writing/research, studying, difficult tasks, expectation of attending college, parent expectations, parent stress, teacher stress, MCAS | External |
| Major theme 3: Supporting academically stressed students | |
| Analogies (sports, video game, musical instrument, theater, physical strength, toddler), personal anecdotes, practice, realize we grow over the years, positive feedback, team building, teach brain is like a muscle, practice to grow, identify and acknowledge growth, reminders of past growth, emphasize participation, celebrate success, focus on positive, change approach, prompting, time, organizational support, portfolios, point out growth, the power of “yet,” the “productive struggle,” point out strengths | Mindset Strategies |
| Breathing, take a breath, breathing exercises, distract brain, communication, consistent language, lists/checklists, schedules, agendas, offer choices of strategies, transferable skills, counting exercises, visualization, tiered group, help students recognize gains, mindfulness, metacognitive strategies, student identify where stuck, teach about amygdala, break for “fresh brain,” ask for help, music, sensory tools, calm app | Coping Strategies |
| Build relationships, take a break, retake opportunities, explain adolescent brain/stress response, modeling, study plan, conversation, extra time/extension, go step-by-step, break it down, reassure students, reassure parents, locate source of stress, give students sense of control, examples, chunk work, reminder of skills students have already, acknowledge when work is difficult, stay after school, stating we’re in this together, collaborate with other educators, modify assignments, set up situations for success | Educators’ Strategies |
| School psychologist, guidance counselors, social worker, SEL group, educator teams, administrators, parents, professional development (executive functioning, SEL, mindset, coping, academic stress), consistent systems sand structures, proactive strategies, IST, district/community goals, time, PBiS | Ideal School Supports |
| Major theme 4: Outcomes of addressing academic stress | |
| Ability to move on, increased effort, understanding the physiological side of stress, adjusted schedule, more discussion of stress, feel comfortable, pushing themselves | Student Outcomes |
| Practice self-care, not all stress is bad, stress can be motivating, stress is “the productive struggle,” increased stress, stress has increased over the years, stress is cyclical, myriad of presentations, desire to help, grades are arbitrary, feeling undertrained, anticipate triggers | Veteran Educator Insights |
| Frustration, challenging, rewarding, evolving, pressure, uncomfortable, undertrained, want to help, want to fix this, want more strategies, want more support, trickle-down effect of administrator stress, grades are arbitrary, becoming more empathetic, increased ability to recognize stress, interest, worry, joy, pride, disappointment, more cognizant/heightened awareness, balancing act, want more strategies | Feelings |
| Time, practice, common language, consistent strategies/structures, team of educators, school psychologist, parent support, professional development, proactive strategies, school-wide programs, encouragement, education about what stress is/physiological effect, perseverance, accountability, teachers with growth mindset, parents with growth mindset, visuals/posters, confidence, resiliency, communication skills, educator training, being there in moment, ability to tolerate negative emotions | Needs |
Appendix 4: Recruitment Email
19 June 2022
Middle School & High School Educators
Anonymous School District
Anonymous Street
Anonymous Town, 00000
Dear Educators,
As a graduate student in the School of Education at Liberty University, I am conducting research as part of the requirement for a doctoral degree. The purpose of my research to understand how educators recognize and respond to student academic stress.
Participants must be 18 years of age and have at least 5 years of experience working with students in a school setting. Participants, if willing, will be asked to complete an interview, participate in a focus group, and compose a letter of advice. It should take approximately 45 min to complete the interview, 60 min to complete the focus group, and 30 min to complete the letter. After interviews and your part of the focus group are transcribed, I will ask you to review the transcripts, which should take about 15 min. Names and other identifying information will be requested as part of this study, but the information will remain confidential.
To participate, please click here to respond to the brief survey attached to this email, which will take approximately 5 min to complete.
Sincerely,
Lisa Koniecnza
Doctoral Candidate, Liberty University
Appendix 5: Screening Survey
Are you at least 18 years old?
Yes _____ No _____
____1 to 4 years. ____ 5 to 9 years. ____10 to 14 years. _____15 to 19 years. _____20+ years.
Yes _____ No _____ Other __________________________________
Appendix 6: Response Email
EMAIL TO SELECTED PARTICIPANTS
Dear ___________,
I hope this correspondence finds you well! Thank you for completing the “Screening Survey for Academic Stress.” You have been selected to participate in the study, A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of educators who seek to recognize and address academic stress in secondary students. In order to participate, please complete and return the consent form. (Paper copies are also available and will be mailed to you upon request.) Information about interview and focus groups dates will follow. I look forward to listening to and learning from your experiences.
With Appreciation,
Lisa Konieczna
EMAIL TO NON-SELECTED INDIVIDUALS WHO COMPLETED SCREENING SURVEY
Dear ___________,
I hope this correspondence finds you well! Thank you for completing the “Screening Survey for Academic Stress.” You have not been selected to participate in the study, A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of educators who seek to recognize and address academic stress in secondary students. Educator participation in research is critical, so please consider participating in future studies.
With Appreciation,
Lisa Konieczna
Appendix 7. Audit Trail.
| 5/12/22 | District approval for study |
| 12/3/22 | First pilot interview, conducted and transcribed |
| 12/8/22 | Sent out recruitment email to middle school and high school staff |
| 12/6/22 | Second pilot interview |
| 12/12/22 | Sent out consent to first 8 respondents |
| 12/12/2 | Pilot focus group |
| 12/18/22 | Sent the last two respondents consent forms. Sent all respondents interview dates and times for January 2023 |
| 1/5/23 | First interview |
| 1/5/23 | Sent follow up emails with interview times |
| 1/10/23 | Interview with — |
| 1/11/23 | Interview with — |
| 1/14/23 | Established focus group times and date for participants to choose from through February |
| 2/17/23 | Completed interviews and focus groups |
| 2/27/23 | Completed transcription of interviews and focus groups |
| 2/28/23 | Began determining horizons by using comments to mark and label horizons. The horizon codes from comments were copied and pasted into a Word doc. Codes from the other transcripts have been added to the doc, and repeated codes will be labeled with all participant numbers |
| 3/5/23 | Completed initial extraction of interview and focus group transcript horizons |
Acknowledgements
With gratitude I acknowledge my colleagues for their contributions and recognize my family and church for their support.
Author’s note
This manuscript contains information and ideas derived from my doctoral dissertation, “A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of educators who seek to recognize and address academic stress in secondary students.”
Ethical Considerations
Ethical approval was attained. The number is IRB-FY22-23-414.
Consent to Participate
Informed consent was provided in writing and signed by participants.
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Author Contributions
Lisa Konieczna - primary author and researcher. Gail Collins – secondary author and dissertation chair.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
Datasets generated or analyzed during this study are available through Figshare.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
References
Supplementary Material
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