Longitudinal Effects of Examination Stress on Psychological Well-Being and a Possible Mediating Role of Self-Esteem in Chinese High School Students

Zhoulei Xiang, Shen Tan, Qian Kang, Baoshan Zhang () and Lei Zhu
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Zhoulei Xiang: Shaanxi Normal University
Shen Tan: Shaanxi Normal University
Qian Kang: Shaanxi Normal University
Baoshan Zhang: Shaanxi Normal University
Lei Zhu: Shaanxi Normal University

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2019, vol. 20, issue 1, No 16, 283-305

Abstract: Abstract Through using a latent growth curve model (LGCM), the present study investigated longitudinal relationships between examination stress, self-esteem, and psychological well-being in Chinese high school students. This paper presents results of a three-wave longitudinal study among 248 Chinese high school students who were followed over the course of one semester. The students completed questionnaires about once every 2 months from the beginning to the end of a school semester for a total of three questionnaires including the shorten version of Academic Stress Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Chinese version of Psychological Well-Being Scale. The results obtained from latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) showed that the initial examination stress level negatively predicted the students’ initial level of psychological well-being. Also, changes in examination stress over time negatively predicted changes in psychological well-being. In addition, self-esteem can mediate the effects of examination stress on psychological well-being: first, initial level of examination stress can influence the initial level of psychological well-being via self-esteem; second, examination stress at Time 1 predicted psychological well-being at Time 3 mediated by self-esteem at Time 2. These findings contributed the theoretical explanation about the effect of stress in damaging psychological well-being and the mediating mechanism of self-esteem. There are also some practical implications on improving psychological well-being among the high school students through reducing the levels of examination stress.

Keywords: LGCM; Psychological well-being; Examination stress; Adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9948-9

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