Ben Knostman

Ms. Cassell

English Comp. 2

March 23, 2020

Literature Review

To provide you with the facts of this paper the following literature will review what are

the most common factors leading to stress in high school students. This information has been

gathered from credible websites and articles regarding the topic of stress in high school students.

I have divided the research into four main categories; how does physical activity effect stress,

can the social aspect of high school help relive anxiety, by taking AP, advanced, and college

classes in high school does this make students more prone to stress, how does the financial

situation of a student’s family effect their emotions.

According to David Barney, there are a multitude of studies that show physical activity,

whether it be a physical education class or a designated sport like basketball, reduces stress in

students. In his research he focuses mostly on how physical activity might actually increase

stress due to peer pressure, intolerance of unathletic students, and unrealistic standards. He

believes that physical activity has the potential to be an amazing stress reliver, but first you must

get rid of the added pressure so students can truly relax.

An integral part of high school is the social side of it. A lot of students are pressured into

procrastination or other bad habits because they want to do what is enjoyable instead of doing

what is right. This leads to assignments for school, chores for your family, and other things that
aren’t fun to stack up and create what seems to be an insurmountable load of work, which is a

primary cause of stress. Jamil A. Malik and Madeha Ashraf believe that this stress can be

avoided as long as you establish boundaries with your friends and choose your social group

wisely. By surrounding yourself with hard working people, it will give you the motivation to do

necessary activities before the enjoyable activity.

Shannon Suldo writes of a study that illustrates how accelerated classes effect a student’s

anxiety. There are multiple studies that have recently come out proving that while accelerated

classes might prepare students for college, they also increase the stress in those students, which

can lead to a fall out at some point. She believes that these classes are a good thing, but they need

to be monitor so the students aren’t over-worked beyond their capabilities. According to

Wilaiwan Srisongkhram students need to be set up for success by their counselors by putting

them in the right class for their learning abilities. She states that many students are put into

advanced class, but do not belong. Instead of getting out of the class, most of these students push

through and try to complete it anyway. This is a major problem because it sets unrealistic

standards for the student, which leads to stress.

Many students are required to work during high school, so they can help their families.

Karl Peltzer studies show surprising things. He states at the beginning that he believes students

from low-income families would have more stress because they have to do more activities like

working. The results were sporadic and had no clear answer, so he believes that the income of

your family does not have an impact on your stress. He follows this up by saying there are

irregular circumstances where it can impact your stress, but on average students from wealthy

families and students from poor families both felt the same amount of stress.
 The literature above has answered questions but has also brought more along with it. I

need to research more how physical activity effects a student’s anxiety, especially how sleep

effects students. Finally, I want to discover more articles describing how a family’s income and

home life can affect a student: If a student has two parents is he more or less likely to be

stressful?
 Works Cited Page

Barney, David C.; Pleban, Francis T.; Lewis, Terrance. Physical Educator. Summer2019,

Vol. 76 Issue 3, p777-799. 23p. DOI: 10.18666/TPE-2019-V76-I3-8966.

 Malik, Jamil A.; Ashraf, Madeha. Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health

Sciences. Jan-Mar2019, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p65-70. 6p. DOI: 10.22442/jlumhs.191810603.

 Peltzer, Karl; Pengpid, Supa. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical

Practice. Oct2015, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p259-265. 7p. DOI: 10.3109/13651501.2015.1082598.

Srisongkhram, Wilaiwan; Srisongkhram, Worawan. Human Behavior Development &

Society. Dec2019, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p18-28. 11p.

Suldo, Shannon M.; Shaunessy‐Dedrick, Elizabeth. Psychology in the Schools.  Sep2013,

Vol. 50 Issue 8, p823-843. 21p. 3 Charts. DOI: 10.1002/pits.21708.