The Relationship between Anxiety and the School Workload of Senior High School Students in

De La Salle University Manila

A Research Proposal
for the course on
Practical Research 1 - STEM

Submitted by

Javier, Kyla Carmea L.

Lacson, Donald Tristan L.
Tan, Dana Beatrice S.
Tan, Wynne Isis Y.

Ong, Ethel Chua Joy

Teacher

April 7, 2017
 Abstract

Mental health problems have become prevalent in the 21st century. One of those is anxiety,

which is characterized by restlessness, fatigue, difficulty in concentration, irritability, tension,

difficulty in handling anxiety, and sleep problems (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016).

Because of the change in curriculum due to the implementation of the K to 12 program in the

Philippines, Senior High School students are given increased workload, and may have developed

anxiety symptoms. In this research, the relationship of anxiety symptoms and amount of workload

of Senior High School students in De La Salle University Manila will be determined through

statistical analysis, to identify factors that trigger anxiety symptoms and to propose solutions to

help students cope with anxiety. Purposive sampling will be used to get samples from the

population and questionnaires will be given to participants to determine demographics,

socioeconomic status, anxiety levels, amount of academic workload, and other trigger factors.

Keywords: anxiety in secondary students, anxiety in high school students, factors that affect

anxiety, anxiety and academic workload

 Table of contents

Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 3

Purpose of the Study 3

Scope and Limitations 4

Significance of the Study 5

Review of Related Literature 7

Research Methodology

Findings

Conclusion and Recommendations

References 18

Appendices
 List of Tables

Table 2.1. Anxiety Levels of Boys in Seventh and Ninth Grade Before and After Lessons 14

Table 2.2. Anxiety Levels of Girls in Seventh and Ninth Grade Before and After Lessons 14
 Introduction

Mental health problems have always been present in the lives of human beings. But they

are often seen with stigma, therefore people who have those disorders often hide their situation or

never consult a physician. Having mental health problems can affect how a person lives, mostly

interfering with their ability to do daily tasks. One of those disorders is the anxiety disorder.

Anxiety is a disorder wherein a feeling of worry or fear goes on for a period of time. This can

interfere with daily tasks, such as job activities, academic activities, and social relationships.

Anxiety is characterized by restlessness, fatigue, difficulty in concentration, irritability, tension,

difficulty in handling anxiety, and sleep problems. There are different kinds of anxiety which are

the Generalized Anxiety disorder, characterized by excessive anxiety for months, Panic disorder,

characterized by frequent and unexpected panic attacks due to worry of impending doom, and

Social Anxiety disorder, characterized by fear of social performances. (National Institute of Mental

Health, 2016). Regardless of the kind of anxiety, the main problem is the same, which is having

excess worry over something.

Anxiety is called the disease of the 21st century. According to Downbiggin (2009), anxiety

has been rising since the Second World War. Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health problem

in the world, due to the increasing pace of modern society, but evidences show that anxiety-related

symptoms are legitimate or acceptable responses to change.

One of the sectors of society is the academe, which changes in a rapid pace. Students are

the ones who are most exposed to the rapid pace of academic life. With the addition of academic

demands and increasing workload, anxiety has become prevalent in students. According to the

American College Health Association (2014), 21.9% of students suffer from anxiety that affected

1
their academic performance, 56.9% feel overwhelming anxiety, and 15.8% are diagnosed and

treated for anxiety problems.

Recent studies show that anxiety in students is triggered by many factors. In an innovative

school in Kazakhstan, students displayed anxiety and emotional instability after lessons

(Konkabaeva et al., 2013). A significant percentage of secondary students in Cha Tho, Vietnam

experience depressive and anxiety symptoms mainly due to abuse in home and high educational

stress. In a study in the United Kingdom by Adeoye-Agboola and Evans (2015), it was shown that

anxiety was caused by academic stress, financial difficulty, and future aspirations, which affects

the students’ academic performance. In these studies, one of the factors that induce anxiety in

students is the academic workload or stress that it creates. It implied that academic workload has

a relationship with anxiety in students.

In 2013, former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino signed the Republic Act 10533,

known as the K-12 Act. It changed the Philippine school system from the 10-year basic education

system to the 12-year basic education system. It aims to prepare high school graduates for tertiary

education, employment, and entrepreneurship (Official Gazette of the Philippines, 2015). To

prepare students for employment and higher education, more challenging subjects from the tertiary

curriculum were added to the basic education system or senior high school. Because of this, the

academic demands and workload of students have increased significantly.

The increase in student workload due to the implementation of the K-12 program may have

led to an increase in the anxiety levels of Filipino senior high school students. As previous studies

were conducted in different locales, results may be different in the Philippine context. Different

locales exhibit different environments, situations, and status. According to Nikapota as cited in

Nguyen et. al. (2013), environmental stressors such as poverty and traumatic events correlates to

2
the poor mental health of the youth. Different cities have different socio-economic development

status, and it can be implied from the stated study that students in cities with less developed

economic status have a higher chance of developing mental illnesses.

Statement of the Problem

Although previous research already suggested the direct relationship between the anxiety

and school workload and proposed several ways in handling stress brought by the amount of

workload given to students, these discoveries and solutions may not apply to the Philippine setting,

given the differences in socioeconomic status. Due to the difference in demographics, the Senior

High School students of De La Salle University Manila may exhibit either higher tolerance or

lower tolerance to a certain amount of workload in contrast to those exhibited by foreign students.

Other factors also differ from one school setting to another such as the curricula, teaching methods,

difficulty of lessons, and the school calendar. Attributed to these differences, the research wants

to determine what is the correlation between the anxiety symptoms of the Senior High School

students of De La Salle University Manila with the given workload in order to propose a solution

on how these students could cope with the anxiety brought by the academic demands of the K-12

educational system.

Purpose of the Study

Several factors, such as the curriculum and scheduling of classes, can cause or add to the

intensity of the workload, and it may eventually result in the development of different mental

issues and disorders, one of which is anxiety. Compared to other ASEAN countries, the Philippines

has the lowest unemployment rate in the region at 7.1% and is considered the least peaceful,

3
ranking 132nd in the 2014 Global Peace Index (Pacia, 2015), and a study done by the American

Psychological Association (2016) states that students with low socioeconomic backgrounds tend

to develop academic skills slower than students of high socioeconomic status.

The country’s low socioeconomic status can be reflected in the schools, which are under

resourced, therefore providing inadequate education and increased dropout rates. Besides the poor

socioeconomic background, the workload Filipino students face nowadays has been significantly

increased to help in the mastery of concepts and skills, and for a better transition to the tertiary

level (Department of Education, 2015).

Given these issues, this study aims to discover the relations of anxiety and school workload

among Senior High School students of De La Salle University Manila by:

 Developing a questionnaire that will determine anxiety symptoms with the aid of experts

 Determining the amount of workload of participants

 Employing statistical analysis to determine if anxiety levels are significant

in order to propose interventions that can help alleviate anxiety symptoms of students.

Scope and Limitations

The population of the study is the Senior High School students of De La Salle University

Manila. De La Salle University Manila has started offering the Senior High School program in the

year 2016. Patterned with the college level, the Senior High School undergo a trimestral schedule.

This study will include students from both Grades 11 and 12, as well as students from different

strands namely the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand, the

Accounting and Business Management (ABM) strand, and the Humanities and Social Sciences

(HUMSS) strand. Purposive sampling will be used in selecting participants as students who

experience anxiety symptoms are the target subjects of this study. The population of the study was

4
chosen because it is relevant to these students as they are experiencing a major shift from Junior

High School to Senior High School, especially the increase in academic workload, that make them

prone to anxiety.

Data will be collected from online sources and surveys of participants. Diagnosis of anxiety

is outside the capabilities of the researchers as they are not experts in psychology, therefore, only

the presence of anxiety symptoms in students will be determined using scales and questionnaires.

These questionnaires will be developed in consultation with experts in psychology and psychiatry.

The questionnaires will include demographics including socioeconomic status, anxiety symptoms,

factors that trigger anxiety symptoms, and amount of workload. The amount of workload will be

based on the participant’s perception using a Likert scale, but criteria for determining the amount

of workload such as number of tests, presentations, and other activities will be also included to

guide the participants in determining the amount of their workload. These criteria will be based

from the interview from Senior High School administrators and teachers. Questionnaires will be

used as observing subjects to determine anxiety symptoms and amount of workload is time-

consuming and may invade the privacy of the subjects.

The proposition of intervention programs will be done after determining the relationship

of anxiety to the amount of school workload. The validity of the intervention programs will be

determined through survey, to know if students find them appropriate, and through expert

consultation. This will be done to determine the relevance of the proposed solutions and to know

if they can be implemented.

Significance of the Study

As education plays a key role in improving the economy of a nation, students are being

given heavier academic workload to better prepare them for the demands of the future work

5
environment. To cope with these demands, some students develop mental illnesses, such as

anxiety. Results from this study can therefore be used to help alleviate this problem in a number

of ways.

Students can benefit from the results of this study by understanding what workload causes

the most stress to them. They can approach someone, especially a person with expertise on the

subject, and ask for their help in dealing with this problem. School authorities can also use the

findings of this research to propose interventions and help students find a way to cope with the

workload given.

The government can benefit from the results of this study by using it as a reference in

adjusting the curriculum of the K-12 system. Since the curriculum is newly implemented in the

Philippines, very few studies have been done on this subject. As a result, the information provided

by this study will be relatively new and more useful.

Future researchers can benefit from the results of this study because it examines whether

factors reviewed in previous studies apply in the Philippine context. Since this study is conducted

on the grade 11 and 12 students of the newly-implemented K-12 curriculum, researchers can use

it as a reference because the information would be relatively new. They can also use it as a basis

for conducting the same research but with a different population or student background.

6
 Review of Related Literature

2.1 Anxiety in Secondary Students

According to Downbiggin (2009), anxiety is a legitimate response to change.

Students are the ones mostly exposed to change due to rapid pace in the academe, as well as

transitioning from one level to another. Because of this, secondary or high school students exhibit

anxiety symptoms. In a study conducted by Hess (2014), the prevalence of anxiety in secondary

students in a rural school in New York was determined. The anxiety levels of students were

determined through the use of the Screen for Childhood Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders

(SCARED) which is a self-completed test to determine the potential of children ages 8-18 of

having an anxiety disorder. The SCARED has four factors for measuring different types of anxiety,

specifically the generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and panic disorder.

The reliability of this test has been previously established and used, with an overall internal

consistency of Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.71 to 0.93. The SCARED has a significant

correlation with other child and adolescent anxiety tests. Having a score of 25 and higher in the

SCARED (with zero as the lowest possible score and 82 as the highest possible score) implies the

presence of an anxiety disorder in a person.

Participants were chosen through convenience sampling that consisted of 146 students in

grades 9 to 12. The questionnaire results were analyzed using Analysis of Variances (ANOVA),

multivariate tests, and chi-square tests to compare and to identify significant differences between

the mean scores of males and females, different grade levels, and the types of anxiety. The average

score of students from grades 9 to 12 are slightly below the level that indicates the presence of an

anxiety disorder, but 36% of the students got a score of 25 and higher. This shows that there is a

significant number of students experiencing anxiety. Results show that Grade 10 students exhibit

7
the highest level of anxiety as they are the students who undergo transition the most. Also, males

and females experience anxiety differently. Females experience significantly higher levels of

anxiety than males, with the females having a mean score of 25.82 in the SCARED while males

having a mean score of 16.19. The most common type of anxiety that secondary students

experience were social anxiety, panic disorder, and the generalized anxiety disorder. Significant

differences were also found between the types of anxiety and the grade level of students. Using

ANOVA, results show that students in higher levels experience generalized anxiety disorder and

panic disorder.

In a study conducted by Nguyen et al. (2013), the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and

suicidal ideation were determined in secondary students in Can Tho, Vietnam. Data were collected

through the use of questionnaires that included demographic information, mental health scales,

specifically the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression scale, an anxiety scale, the

Educational Stress Scale for adolescents, questions about suicidal ideation and questions about

possible solutions. The anxiety scale, consisting of 13 items, uses a three-point scale (never,

sometimes, often). The scale provided a reliable measure of anxiety for Vietnamese adolescents

with a high internal consistency of Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82. Purposive sampling was used to

choose 1260 participants from three different schools, however, 99 participants were excluded due

to insufficient data responses. The total population was 1159 students with 424 boys and 737 girls.

The number of participants from grades 10 to 12 were equal. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test,

and multivariate logical regression analysis were used to determine significant differences in the

socio-demographic characteristics, factors, and outcome variables.

The mean score of students in the anxiety scale is 22.6. Results show that 23% of the

students reported anxiety symptoms at a statistically significant level. Females have three times

8
more chance of having anxiety symptoms than males. Anxiety was also shown to be independently

associated with physical and emotional abuse and high educational stress. Results also show that

anxiety and depression are the main predictors of suicide attempts. Proposed solutions from

students include reduction of academic demands, the presence of a confidential counselor, attitude

change from punitive to supportive and counselling knowledge for teachers and parents.

In a study conducted by Frank-Briggs (2010), the prevalence of anxiety disorder was

evaluated in secondary schools in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two-stage stratified sampling was used

to determine schools and simple random sampling was used to determine participants. Nine

hundred and fifty students from four different schools were chosen to participate in the study. Data

were collected through the use of questionnaires, which included questions about demographics

and the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale for anxiety and depression symptoms.

Students who exhibit at least three behaviors in the questionnaire exhibit anxiety symptoms and

have a chance of having an anxiety disorder. Direct interviews were conducted for students who

have anxiety symptoms to determine the type of anxiety they have and were given special

counselling sessions. Results show that 885 students displayed anxiety symptoms and 91 of them

met the criteria for anxiety disorder diagnosis. This shows that there is a 10.28% of prevalence of

anxiety in secondary students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

2.2 Factors that trigger anxiety

Anxiety is a mental disorder that can be triggered by many factors, such as type of academic

assessment, presentations, specific subjects, financial capabilities or socioeconomic status,

environmental factors, future aspirations, parenting and family life, major life events, cultural and

social factors, and gender roles. In the research conducted by Adeoye-Agboola and Evans (2015),

9
factors such as exams, finances, language, weather, library facilities, social life and support

services were considered in order to identify which triggers anxiety to international students and

which does not. The research was conducted in the University of Bedfordshire, Luton-UK, and

international students consisting of Africans and Asians from the field of health, business,

information technology, natural sciences, and arts were asked regarding the factors that contribute

to their school anxiety. Out of the 105 questionnaires that were distributed, only 103 were

retrieved.

First, one of the prevalent concerns of international students is the type of assessment that

would be used to evaluate their learning; 54% of African students prefer writing exams compared

to 46% of Asian students. Second, one of the factors that could be attributed to the anxiety of

students is financial resources needed for their education; 74 students were reported to have no

jobs. Another factor that could contribute to the anxiety of students is learning English as their

secondary language; 9% of students were reported to feel anxious in listening to English lectures,

32% were reported to feel anxious in speaking in English, 19% were reported to feel anxious in

reading English texts, and 37% were reported to feel anxious in writing in English.

The anxiety of the international students could also be attributed to the weather; 54% of

the respondents reported that the change in weather affected them while only 46% reported that

they were unaffected the change in weather. Other factors such as library facilities and student

social life and support services were considered in the research, however, none of the two factors

were shown to significantly increase the anxiety of international students; 88% of the respondents

were reported to be happy with the library facilities while more than half of the respondents were

satisfied with the support services that were offered by their school. Chi-squared test was also

utilized in examining the relationship of the academic course with the availability of library

10
material and student’s assessment regarding library facility but it did not show any significant

relationship (=0.99). Lastly, the international students’ career aspiration was considered; more

than half of the respondents agreed that it is a major concern if they achieve their goals. Chi-

squared test was also used in determining the gender relationship of student’s frustration and career

aspirations, that is p=0.01 which is significant; 61% of the females of the total respondents were

reported to be anxious when they did not attain their academic goals.

In the research conducted by Vitasari (2010), five potential sources of anxiety namely:

examinations, presentations, mathematics, language, and society, were considered in order to

identify which among these factors trigger anxiety the most and the least. The respondents of the

research consist of first-year and second-year undergraduate students from five engineering

faculties at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Among the 770 respondents, 395 are male while 375

are female. The questionnaires distributed to the respondents consist of 40-item question regarding

the anxiety brought by the factors that are being examined in the research. The Likert Scale was

utilized in determining which among the five potential sources contribute to their anxiety.

Results of the survey showed that the leading factor that triggers anxiety to students are

examinations, with the mean score of 1870.29 and a standard deviation of 99.52. The second

leading factor that triggers anxiety is presentations, with the mean score of 1715.20 and a standard

deviation of 108.99. Furthermore, based on the survey mathematics is the third leading factor that

triggers anxiety with a mean score of 1694 with a standard deviation of 152.49. With a difference

of 21.8 to the mean score of mathematics, language is reported to be the second least factor that

triggers anxiety based on the five potential sources with a mean score of 1672.20 with a standard

deviation of 90.67. Lastly, society is reported to be the least contributing factor of anxiety to the

undergraduate students at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang with a mean score of 1463.43 and

11
standard deviation of 97.34 in contrast to the other contributing factors considered in the research.

Although society is reported to be the least contributing factor of anxiety compared to other

potential sources of anxiety to students, it is important to consider that the mean score of society

as a contributing factor in student anxiety is significantly large.

A study done by Brook and Schmidt (2008) has been done regarding the environmental

risk factors that affect anxiety. The goal of their study was to expand and provide a new review of

factors that can affect anxiety in adolescents. These factors are parenting and family life, major

life events, cultural and social factors, and gender roles. The data of their study on the

socioeconomic factor was collected through the analysis of papers of similar context. However,

different studies suggested different ideas, one of which being that poverty influences anxiety, and

another stating that poverty can act as a prediction of anxiety. Besides the collection and analysis

of similar studies, the researchers also used community samples by interviewing people, putting

into consideration their sociodemographic characteristics and health problems. It was concluded

that the socioeconomic status aids in the development of anxiety, with the association being

stronger in developing countries because of how vital socioeconomic conditions are for everyday

survival.

As a summary of the findings, the factors that affect anxiety determined from different

studies include assessment, language/lectures, weather, goals, presentations, mathematics, family,

major life events, cultural and social factors, gender roles, and socioeconomic status. Assessment,

presentations, lectures, and mathematics can be considered as part of a student’s workload.

2.3 Relationship of anxiety and workload

Students are the ones who experience anxiety as they work at a rapid pace and undergo a

lot of changes. Studies show that students’ anxiety levels increase when academic workload also

12
increases, especially during examinations and lectures. In a study conducted by Adeoye-Agboola

and Evans (2015), the relationship between anxiety and academic performance in the University

of Bedfordshire, Luton-UK was studied. The data was gathered through a survey given to 4,000

postgraduate international students in the said university chosen by a non-random purposive

sampling. One hundred and thirty-one questionnaires were distributed, but only 105 of them were

answered and returned. These 105 questionnaires were coded and analyzed through the use of

SPSS version 19, a software used for statistical analysis. Among the students, 63% were male,

36% were female, and 1% did not put their gender. From the survey results, students said that too

much coursework makes it harder for them to focus on their studies. They also said that not

fulfilling goals set made them frustrated. From this, it can be inferred that student’s anxiety

increases when they are given a heavier workload and they fail to achieve the goals they set for

themselves.

In a study conducted by Konkabaeva et al. (2013), the psycho-emotional state of seventh

and ninth grade students in an innovative school in Kazakhstan was determined. The tests

conducted were the Spielberger-Khanin test for situational anxiety; HAM test for assessment of

health, activity, and mood; Eysenck Questionnaire for determination of the student’s emotional

stability. These tests were conducted before and after six to eight lessons. Participants included 20

students from seventh grade and 20 students from ninth grade. The results were processed on

Microsoft Excel and were analyzed using the Student’s t-test. Table 2.1 shows that boys in both

seventh and ninth grade experience an increase in the level of anxiety after lessons. The percentage

of boys with low anxiety decreased and students with high anxiety increased. Table 2.2 shows

almost the same results in girls. The percentage of girls with low anxiety decreased and the

percentage of high anxiety increased. From those, it implies that the levels of anxiety in the

13
students increase after lessons. Analysis show that boys deteriorate more than girls after lessons

that result to emotional instability and anxiety. This is because heavier workload is given to

students on days when the intellectual working capacity of students are at the lowest, which are on

the beginning and end of the week.

Table 2.1. Anxiety Levels of Boys in Seventh and Ninth Grade Before and After Lessons

Before lessons After lessons

Low Moderate High Low Moderate High
7th grade 60% 0% 0% 60% 10% 10%
9th grade 70% 20% 0% 50% 40% 10%

Table 2.2. Anxiety Levels of Girls in Seventh and Ninth Grade Before and After Lessons

Before lessons After lessons

Low Moderate High Low Moderate High
7th grade 100% 0% 0% 80% 10% 10%
9th grade 70% 30% 0% 40% 50% 10%

In a different study conducted in India by Mani (2010), the students’ perception of course

load on their exam stress was studied. The exam stress, or test anxiety, is comprised of three

components: physical, cognitional, and emotional. The physical component is the reactions in a

person’s body when exposed to stress, while the cognitional element is the thoughts about what

results might happen after the test. On the other hand, the emotional component is the mental

responses to the test such as nervousness and tension. Data were gathered by employing a cross-

sectional survey to 70 college students studying the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in

one of the self-finance colleges in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. These students were chosen

14
through convenience sampling. The survey questionnaires included questions such as their

perception of the course load for every year they were enrolled and their time management skills.

The research used SPSS with the alpha level set as 0.05 to analyze the results of the survey and

for further interpretation of the data, descriptive analyses, Spearman correlation analyses and

analysis of variance (ANOVA) were also employed. The results of this survey indicated that most

students feel anxiety before and during the examination. It was also stated in the research that M2

students, who had the highest perception of a heavy course load and least time management,

reported feeling the most exam anxiety.

The research done by Vitasari (2010) has also stated specific causes of anxiety among the

five potential sources. One of the study anxiety sources is language anxiety, which generally stems

from the thinking of both the student and teacher about the learning a language, interactions using

the language, and classroom procedures. In this scenario, how anxiety affects the performance of

a student is presented, with the study stating how students suffering from high anxiety tend to

commit more grammatical errors and have more difficulty giving speeches compared to students

with low anxiety. Math anxiety is the incapability for a person to solve a math problem. People

with high math anxiety would often react express dislike, worry, or mental disorganization, among

other things, when faced with math problems.

Class presentations are also sources of anxiety, with research showing that it has a negative

impact on the student’s communication, this is also known as presentation anxiety. Students are

made to give presentations frequently, but several studies have shown that the act of public

speaking is the number one fear among people, with students being no exception. The anxiety

caused by presentations has a huge impact on the students, with some effects being the inability

for the pupil to study and cutting classes.

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2.4. Anxiety Intervention Programs

Two examples of anxiety intervention programs are internet-based and school-based

programs. In a review done by Griffiths, Farrer, and Christensen (2010), the efficacy of internet

interventions for depression and anxiety disorders were determined. They compared different

existing intervention programs that targets an anxiety or depression condition through a website

or application. The intervention works either by having a monitor or by a self-help program. People

with monitors should tell their experiences to the monitors and they will be advised on what to do

and guided on how to overcome the symptoms. This may be done one-on-one or with a group that

shares experiences regularly. A self-help program uses pre-made guides that the person needs to

follow if he/she does not want to disclose his/her situation with another person. The mean outcome

scores of each patient before and after the program were determined. With the use of effect size

difference (ESD), it was shown that the internet interventions are effective.

A study done by Anderson et al. (2012) discusses school-based intervention programs for

children and adolescence with anxiety. The paper likewise compares several existing school-based

intervention programs, which are usually implemented by mental health clinicians employed by

research teams. These programs can be done in group sessions, which involve slow exposure to

factors that trigger anxiety and coping techniques, or these can be done in individual sessions,

which focus more on setting goals and problem-solving.

Four programs were reviewed in the study, the first of which being The Cool Kids Program:

School Version. This is an eight-session program that lasts an hour each during school days with

a group of eight to ten students. It focuses on cognitive-behavioral treatment, and the development

of assertiveness, social skills, and coping techniques.

16
 The second program is the Baltimore Child Anxiety Treatment Study in the Schools

(BCATSS), which provides mental health treatment for urban adolescents with anxiety disorders.

The program was made for a school environment and lower socioeconomic class; having twelve

weekly sessions that last thirty-five minutes each. Students are taught relaxation techniques,

problem-solving, cognitive restructuring, and relapse prevention.

The Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for trauma in Schools (CBITS) is a group treatment

held for students aged 10 to 15 who express symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

and depression from trauma exposure. This program was made to be done in a multicultural urban

setting, having ten weekly sessions that last an hour each with five to eight students per group.

There are also one to three individual sessions and two optional parent meetings. The treatment

includes relaxation, coping techniques, cognitive restructuring, exposure to traumatic memories,

processing of said memories, and social problem-solving skills.

Lastly, Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS) is a group treatment for adolescents

with social anxiety disorder. This consists of twelve weekly sessions that last for 40 minutes, two

individual meetings, two parent meetings, two teacher meetings, and four social events. The group

sessions involve social skill training and assertiveness, while the individual sessions focus on goal

setting and problem-solving.

The effectivity of these programs was determined by comparing the scores of students that

undergo these therapies in school with the scores of other patients that receive treatment from

professional clinics. Results show that both patients in both settings statistically improved in their

condition but the school-based programs are more accessible than the programs in clinics.

17
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