Skip to main content
. 2024 Oct 1;19(4):279–290. doi: 10.2185/jrm.2024-012

Table 2. Means and standard deviations of the Educational Stress Scale for Adolescents (ESSA) scores: the total score, sub-total scores for five individual domains, and scores for the 16 individual questions (n=341).

Baseline Follow-up P


Mean SD 95% CI Mean SD 95% CI
Total ESSA 46.4 7.6 (45.6, 47.2) 53.5 10.8 (52.3, 54.6) <0.001
Pressure from study 10.1 2.8 (9.7, 10.4) 12.7 3.4 (12.3, 13.0) <0.001
4. Future education and employment bring me a lot of academic pressure 2.5 1.1 (2.4, 2.6) 3.6 1.1 (3.5, 3.7) <0.001
5. My parents care about my academic grades too much, which brings me a lot of pressure 2.8 1.2 (2.7, 2.9) 3.0 1.2 (2.9, 3.1) 0.029
6. I feel a lot of pressure in my daily studying 2.5 1.0 (2.4, 2.6) 3.2 1.2 (3.1, 3.4) <0.001
11. There is too much competition among classmates which brings me a lot of academic pressure 2.3 1.0 (2.2, 2.4) 2.8 1.1 (2.7, 2.9) <0.001
Worry about grades 11.5 2.2 (11.3, 11.8) 11.1 2.6 (10.8, 11.4) 0.008
8. Academic grades are very important to my future and even can determine my whole life 4.2 1.0 (4.1, 4.3) 4.0 1.1 (3.9, 4.2) 0.060
9. I feel that I have disappointed my parents when my test/exam results are poor 3.8 1.1 (3.7, 3.9) 3.7 1.1 (3.6, 3.8) 0.078
10. I feel that I have disappointed my teacher when my test/exam results are not ideal 3.5 1.1 (3.4, 3.6) 3.4 1.1 (3.2, 3.5) 0.026
Despondency 8.0 2.4 (7.7, 8.2) 9.6 2.8 (9.3, 9.9) <0.001
1. I am very dissatisfied with my academic grades 2.9 1.3 (2.8, 3.0) 3.2 1.2 (3.1, 3.3) <0.001
12. I always lack confidence in my academic scores 2.8 1.1 (2.7, 2.9) 3.3 1.1 (3.2, 3.4) <0.001
13. It is very difficult to concentrate during class 2.3 0.9 (2.2, 2.4) 3.2 1.2 (3.0, 3.3) <0.001
Self−expectation 8.8 2.5 (8.6, 9.1) 10.3 2.9 (10.0, 10.6) <0.001
14. I feel stressed when I do not live up to my own standards 3.1 1.1 (3.0, 3.2) 3.7 1.1 (3.6, 3.8) <0.001
15. When I fail to live up my own expectations, I feel that I am not good enough 3.1 1.2 (3.0, 3.2) 3.5 1.2 (3.4, 3.6) <0.001
16. I usually cannot sleep because of worry when I cannot meet the goals that I set for myself 2.6 1.2 (2.5, 2.8) 3.1 1.2 (3.0, 3.2) <0.001
Workload 8.1 2.4 (7.8, 8.3) 9.8 2.9 (9.5, 10.1) <0.001
2. I feel that there is too much schoolwork 2.8 1.1 (2.7, 2.9) 3.3 1.1 (3.2, 3.4) <0.001
3. I feel there is too much homework 2.3 0.9 (2.2, 2.4) 3.2 1.1 (3.1, 3.3) <0.001
7. I feel that there are too many tests/exams in school 3.0 1.2 (2.8, 3.1) 3.3 1.1 (3.1, 3.4) <0.001

SD: standard deviation; p: p for paired-sample t-test, 95% CI: 95% confidence interval for mean.