Stress Management as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Anambra State, Nigeria

Pat-Anyaeji; Veronica Nnenna1 Okigbo; Ebele Chinelo2

doi:10.56201/ijee.v12.no.3.2026.pg169.177

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Stress Management as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Anambra State, Nigeria

Pat-Anyaeji, Veronica Nnenna1 Okigbo, Ebele Chinelo2

Abstract

The study investigated stress management as a predictor of secondary school students’ academic achievement in Biology in Anambra State, Nigeria. A predictive correlational design was adopted. The population comprised 42,572 Senior Secondary Two (SS2) students offering Biology, from which a sample of 1,000 students was drawn using multistage sampling. The instrument for data collection was the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Questionnaire , adapted from Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989), which measured fourteen dimensions of stress management. Students’ Biology achievement scores were obtained from teachers’ records. The COPEQ was validated by three experts and yielded a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.81. Data were analysed using simple and multiple linear regression. The findings revealed that stress management significantly predicted 1.2% of the variance in Biology achievement, with a positive unstandardised coefficient (B = 0.078). All fourteen dimensions of stress management contributed significantly to the prediction, with positive reinterpretation, self-blame, and use of informational support making the strongest contributions. It was concluded that while stress management is a significant predictor of Biology achievement, its effect is modest, and any active coping behaviour, whether adaptive or maladaptive, appears to be better than passivity. Recommendations included that Biology teachers should encourage students to verbalise academic frustrations and seek help, and that school counsellors should design stress-management interventions that normalise active engagement with academic pressure.

Keywords

Stress managementacademic achievementBiologycoping strategiessecondary schoolNigeria

References

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Stress Management as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Keywords

References

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