The Association Between School-Related Perceived Financial Pressure and Adolescent Mental Well-Being by Cynthia Zhang

This study investigated the relationships between adolescents’ school-related perceived financial pressure, mental well-being, and their relationship with their parents. A 27-item online questionnaire was designed with three subscales - perceived financial pressure, parent-adolescent relationship, and mental well-being - to examine this. A sample of 40 adolescent students in Auckland, New Zealand, was collected. Correlational relationships between the subscales were measured using Pearson’s correlation, and gender differences were investigated using the ANOVA test. The correlational tests revealed that there are significant negative correlations between perceived financial pressure and parent-adolescent relationship, as well as between perceived financial pressure and mental well-being. A positive correlation was identified between parent-adolescent relationship and mental well-being. No significant differences within these subscales were found between genders. The findings suggest that adolescent students’ stress related to academics is significantly influenced by how they perceive their parents’ financial situation. It is also suggested that financial stress places a strain on parent-adolescent relationships, as consistent with previous research. The results also give reason to assume that male and female adolescents in Auckland experience similar amounts of financial pressure.

Adolescence is a critical period of identity development, which is greatly influenced by the social circle surrounding them. It is a time spent largely on experiences related to school education. As a result, academic pressure, which can be defined as stress that stems from one’s academic performance, is found to be one of the leading factors that determine the state of an adolescent’s mental well-being. Specifically, numerous studies have identified academic pressures as the most influential causes of perceived stress. This is a serious issue as adolescence is represented by an increased sensitivity to stress. Consequently, adolescents are susceptible to mental health issues. Research has discovered that increased academic pressure is associated with increased depressive and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, research discovered a strong positive correlation between perceived stress and the female gender, hence suggesting that females may be more mentally affected by academic pressures than males. The delicate nature of mental well-being for individuals at this age results in a need to dive deeper into the nuance of the broad term, academic pressure. This research will help discover solutions that alleviate the intensity of academic pressure and hence its negative effects on mental health. Central factors that will be investigated in this study are parental pressure and financial pressure.

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