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| A Study of Mental Health among Higher Secondary School Students | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paper Id :
17160 Submission Date :
07/02/2023 Acceptance Date :
21/02/2023 Publication Date :
25/02/2023
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| Abstract | The present study was conducted to measure the mental health among higher secondary school students. The sample was comprised 120 higher secondary school students out of which 60 were from male students(30 urban and 30 rural ) and 60 from female students(30 urban and 30 rural) of 16 to 18 years age group from different higher secondary schools of Agra district ,Uttar Pradesh. Data was collected through ‘Mental Health Inventory’ developed by Dr. Jagdish and Dr. A. K. Srivastva(1983).‘t’ test was used to analyzed the data. Results showed that there is a significant difference in mean score of mental health among male and female higher secondary school students. Female students have better mental health than male students. It was also found that there is no significant difference in the mean score of mental health among urban and rural higher secondary school students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Keywords | Mental Health, Gender, Locality, Higher Secondary School Students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction |
Higher secondary stage is the most important time in the life of students. The support of parents and society is essential for personality development. Environment also plays an important role. In general, different types of values have been established between girls and boys in society to meet their needs, but on the strength of their strong will, girls are ahead of boys in various fields. The needs and circumstances of people living in rural and urban areas are different and the methods of fulfilling them are also different, which affects the mental health of the students. In the present study, the mental health of high secondary school students will be studied. So that they can be properly guided.
Mental health is as important as physical health in human life. Physical health and mental health affect each other. Today the life of a person is becoming more complicated. They have to face difficulties and disappointments in various spheres of life. Due to mental confusions, they are not able to adjust themselves in the society. In such a situation, it is necessary for a person to be mentally healthy.
In the world only those people who have good mental health are able to adjust themselves in physical and social situations. When a person is free from mental illness, then he is considered mentally healthy and this condition is called mental health.
World Health Organization (WHO, 1962) defines mental health as the balanced development of the total personality which enables one to interact creatively. He lives in the world of reality rather than fantasy, and is capable of tolerating frustration. Such a person lives in a well-balanced life of work, rest and recreation.
According to Chaplin (1970) mental health as a state of good adjustment with a subjective state of well-being, just for living and the feelings one is exercising his talents and abilities.
Kaplan (1971) defines mental health involves a continuous adaptation to changing circumstances, a dynamic process where a living, reaching being striving to achieve a balance between internal demands and the requirements of a changing environment.
Mental health is the ability to adjust with the environment. Due to this, a person behaves according to his feelings, desires, ambitions and ideals in daily life. He is able to face the realities of life and accept it. |
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| Aim of study | To study the mental health among higher secondary school students with respect to their gender and locality. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Review of Literature | Morab, Yadav and Khadi(2014) focused their research
on the mental health of rural elderly. Result showed that there was no
significant difference between rural male and female elderly on mental health. Naik, Bhattacharjee and
Sutradhar (2015) conducted a study on mental health among rural and urban
adolescents students. The sample consisted 200 secondary students( 100 rural
and 100urban areas) through random sampling from different schools of Chhattisgarh.
The result found that rural students have significantly higher mental health
than urban students. Peerzada(2016) focused his
research on mental health and academic achievement of male and female secondary
school students. The sample consisted of 60 male and 60 female secondary school
students selected randomly from Anantnag District of Jammu and Kashmir. The
data were collected through Mental Health Battery developed by A.K. Singh and
Alpana Sen Gupta.' t' test was used to analysed the data. Results showed that
male students have significantly higher academic achievement and mental health
than female students. Waghmare(2018)conducted a study of mental health among urban and rural college
students. the sample consisted 100 students, in which 50 urban (25 male and 25
female) and 50 rural (25 male and 25 female) selected stratified random
sampling from Ambad city District Jalna ,Maharashtra. The data were collected
through 'Mental Health Inventory' developed by Dr. Jagdish and Dr. A. K. Srivastava
( 1983). The result found that there existed no significant difference on
mental health among male and female, urban and rural college students. Talati and Gadhavi (2021)
conducted a study of mental health of higher secondary school students of
kendriya vidyalaya in relation to certain variable. The sample consisted 438
boys and 365 girls students from Gujarat . Result found that there is higher
level of mental health in high academic achievement students than low academic
achievement. It was also found that there is no significant difference
between male and female students on mental health.
Tripathi and Sahu (2021)
conducted study on mental health of rural and urban students. Result showed
that urban students have significantly higher mental health than rural
students. It was also found that girls have significantly better mental health
than boys students. |
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| Hypothesis | 1. There will be no significant difference between higher secondary school students towards mental health with respect to their gender. 2. There will be no significant difference between higher secondary school students towards mental health with respect to their locality. |
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| Methodology | Research design: Normative survey design was used.
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| Sampling | Present study was conducted on 120 higher secondary school
students selected through random sampling. Sample included 60 male (30 rural and
30 urban) and 60 female (30 rural and 30 urban) students with an age range of 16
to 18 years. All the students were selected from various higher secondary
schools in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. |
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| Tools Used | In present study ”Mental Health Inventory” developed by Dr. Jagdish & Dr. A. K. Srivastava (1983) was used. This scale consist of 56 items based on 6 dimensions - (1) Positive self-evaluation, (2) Perception of reality, (3) Integration of personality, (4) Autonomy,(5) Group oriented attitudes, (6) Environmental mastery. The scale has four response categories viz. always, often, rarely and never. The reliability and validity coefficients were found significant as the value of split-half reliability coefficient was r= 0.73 and validity construct validity was r=0.54 which confirm the standardization of the scale. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics Used in the Study | Mental Health Inventory was simultaneously administered to
the selected subjects personally and they were asked to read carefully, the
instructions given in the scale. They were assured that their responses will be
kept confidential. Then the scoring was done according to the manual. The data
were analyzed with the help of 't' ratio. |
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| Result and Discussion | The analysis of data interpretation and
discussion of the results are given below. Table-1 Showing the mean, SD and 't' value of male and
female students on mental health
Table -1 shows that mean score of mental
health of male and female higher secondary school students were 195.25 and
198.50 and their SDs were 5.60 and 4.50 respectively. The 't' value between two
means was found to be 3.53 which is significant at 0.01 level of
confidence . Therefore, the hypothesis that there will be no significant
difference between higher secondary school students towards mental health
with respect to their gender is rejected. Table-2 Showing the mean, SD and 't' value of urban and rural
students on mental health
Table-2
shows that mean score of mental health of urban and rural higher
secondary school students were 196.25 and 197.50 and their SDs were 5.20 and
4.25 respectively. The 't' value between two means was found to be 1.43
which is not significant .The mean score of rural students is slightly higher
than urban students. Therefore, the hypothesis that there will be
no significant difference between higher secondary school students towards
mental health with respect to their locality is accepted. Discussion The
main aim of present study was to examine gender and locality difference on
mental health among higher secondary school students. Form the table-1 it is
quite obvious that there is significant difference in mental health between
male and female higher secondary school students. The female students are more
mentally healthy in comparison to male students. The reason for this is
that girls take seriously the suggestions of their parents and teachers.
Girls are more conscious about their work, while boys have more tendency to
procrastinate towards their work. Girls have more confidence, self-identity,
accurate perception of events and sense of dedication to the group than boys.
Some studies are in support of the present study while some are contradictory.
The findings is in agreement with the finding of the Tripathi and
Sahu (2021) who report that girls have significantly better mental health
than boys students, but contrary to the results of the Peerzada (2016) who
found that male students have significantly higher academic achievement and
mental health than female students. Table- 2 showed that rural students have higher
score on mental health than urban higher secondary school students but
this difference was statistically non- significant .It means that both rural
and urban students have same mental health. Both the parents are equally
concerned about the future of the children and try to provide them a good
environment. The reason for this is that rural and urban students
are getting the same information from modern technology like TV, computer,
newspapers and social media. Online coaching is expanding the knowledge of the
students of rural areas. In this concern, a similar result found Singh (2018)
in their study that there were not any significant difference between rural and
urban secondary school students regarding to mental health . Another study by
Waghmare (2018) supports the findings of the current result that there is
no statistically significant difference on mental health among rural and urban
students. |
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| Findings | 1. There will be no significant difference between higher secondary school students towards mental health with respect to their gender is rejected. 2. There will be no significant difference between higher secondary school students towards mental health with respect to their locality is accepted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conclusion | It is clear from the findings of the present study that gender difference was found in the mental health of higher secondary school students but no significant effect of locality was found on mental health. Female students was found to be better mental health than male students. This study also showed that there is no significant difference between rural and urban higher secondary school students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| References | 1. Chaplin, J. P. (1970). Dictionary of Psychology. Vikas Publishing House, New
2. Delhi.
3. Kaplan, L. (1971). Education and mental health. New York; Harper and Row Pub.
4. Morab, A.H., Yadav, V.S.,and Khadi,P B.(2014). Mental health of rural elderly, Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.,27(3),55-72
5. Naik,P K., Bhattacharjee,P. and Sutradhar,A.(2015). A comparative study of mental Health among rural and urban adolescent students. International Journal of Recent Research in Social Sciences and humanities, 2(2), 143-145.
6. Peerzada,N.(2016). Mental health and academic achievement of male and female secondary school students of District Anantnag,Jambu and Kashmir, India. International Journal of Advanced Research and Development, 1( 4), 112- 117.
7. Singh, Kashmir(2018). Mental health of secondary school students in relation to gender and locale. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 5( 1), 17-19.
8. Talati,J.K. and Gadhavi,R.S(2021). A study of mental health of higher secondary school students of Kendriya Vidyalaya in relation to certain variables. International Journal of Research in humanities and soc. sciences, 9( 5), 56-59.
9. Tripathi,M , and Sahu, B.(2021). A comparative study of mental health of rural and urban students. International Educational Scientific Research Journal, 7( 12), 67-77.
10. Waghmare,R.D.(2018).A study of mental health among urban and rural college students .International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 3(1),31-37.
11. World Health Organization. (1962). WHO Technical Report. Series No.9.
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