The effect of parent achievement pressure on academic stress and school burnout levels of secondary students

In this study, the role of parental achievement pressure in understanding the concepts of academic stress and school burnout, which pose a great risk to the educational processes of secondary school students, was examined. The study employed a relational screening model, one of the quantitative research designs. The sample consisted of 984 volunteer students studying in 3 schools in the city center of Düzce, selected through the purposive determination method. After obtaining the necessary legal permissions, the research data were collected using four scales: the Parental Academic Achievement Pressure and Support Scale, the Stress Inventory Scale for Academic Expectations, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the School Burnout Scale. Data analysis included t-tests for independent groups, ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, and multiple regression analysis. According to the research findings, it was observed that secondary school students participating in the study experience a moderate level of parental achievement pressure. Achievement pressure was analyzed considering various variables, and it was determined that male students experience greater achievement pressure compared to female students. In terms of grade, the pressure was highest in the tenth grade and gradually decreased in the ninth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. When evaluating students based on their daily study time, it was found that achievement pressure ishighest among students who do not study at all, and it decreases as the study time increases. There was no significant difference between the level of education of students' mothers and fathers and parental pressure for success. However, a significant difference was found between students' future anxiety levels and parental pressure for success, indicating that parental pressure is significantly higher among students who are anxious about their future. Regarding other research results, it was found that secondary school students have above-average levels of family-teacher expectations, sub-dimensions of self-expectations, and overall academic stress. Female students experience more academic stress than male students, while significant differences were observed only in the sub-dimension of expectations about oneself based on the grade variable. Students experience the highest academic stress in the tenth grade and the lowest in the ninth grade. There is a positive relationship between students' average study time and the first sub-dimension of academic stress, family-teacher expectations. It was observed that as study time increases, family and teacher expectations also increase, leading to an increase in academic stress among students. While there was no significant difference between the grade point averages of secondary school students and academic stress, an increase in the educational level of the mother and father was found to be associated with an increase in academic stress.