Academic Anxiety and Wellbeing amongst Rural and Urban Adolescents

Adolescence is one of the most important periods of life. Major physiological, cognitive and behavioral changes take place during this period. The marked physical and emotional growths of adolescents result in strains that frequently precipitate stress and anxiety as reflected in physiological, psychological and social behavior. This is the time when they need maximum attention, care and proper guidance of their parents. One's personality is substantially shaped by the environment to which one is exposed. So, the present investigation was aimed to explore the academic anxiety and general well being amongst adolescents belonging to rural and urban areas. A two group design was adopted in the present study. Each group consisted of 50 subjects (25 males and 25 females) with an age range of 14-16 years. Academic anxiety scale and general well being scale were administered on the 100 adolescent students. Data was analyzed by using t- test. The results of the study showed that adolescents of urban area had significantly higher academic anxiety than the adolescents of rural area. No significant difference was found between two groups on general well being and its dimensions. Further, male adolescents belonging to rural area had significantly higher level of well being as compared to females of rural area. The study infers that adolescents in the urban milieu have to cope with heightened academic anxiety but, interestingly it does not affect their well being. The present study implies that there is a need to identify environmental influences contributing to academic anxiety and needs to be addressed.