Associate Professor, Bethlahem College of Education, Karungal, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India.
In the present study, the investigator has attempted to study the mental health of high school students using a random sampling technique. 300 secondary students from ten schools of Kanyakumari district were selected as samples for the study. Statistical techniques like t-test and F-test is used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that there exist significant differences in the mental health of secondary students with regard to gender, medium of instruction, locality of Institution, and type of institution. There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to the nature of family.
Keywords: mental health, random sampling, analyze, revealed
Mental Health is necessary to personal welfare, family and interpersonal relationships, and one’s contribution to society. It does not refer to any one aspect of mental life or to any one dimension of human personality. It encompasses all aspects of the individual’s adjustment and is characterized by appropriate personal, social, intellectual, emotional, and philosophical orientations, the individual is deemed to have good mental health. Mental health means the capability to balance feelings, desires, ambitions, and an ideal in one’s daily living. It means the capability to face and accept the reality of life. It has been seen that a mentally well person is one who has a “wholesome” balanced character free from inconsistencies, emotional and nervous discords, and conflicts.
The modern world or age is the age of science and technology. In spite of so many advancements, human is not happy; rather it has made life more complex. Man has become a victim of confusion and mental illness. The aim of education is not merely imparting bookish knowledge but to make youth good citizens by bringing about his physical, mental, social, and intellectual development, so it is an important function of education to make the students mentally fit. Then only they may become the mentally healthy personalities of the society. A mentally healthy person is very co-operative with others who can make friends, who have good emotional control and moral standards. In life, mental health plays an important role to compete in this ever-changing world. Thus an attempt is made to conduct a study on “Mental Health of High School Students.”
The problem is stated as “Mental Health of High School Students”.
The objectives of the study are as follows:
Method adopted for the present study is survey method.
The population of the study consists of high school students of Kanyakumari district.
The sample consists of 300 high school students of kanyakumari district.
The tool used for the present study was Mental Health Scale constructed and validated by the investigator.
The item validity was already found by doing item analysis. It was also carefully analysed by the department head and the guide. Some alternations were made according to their suggestions. Thus, the content validity of the test was established.
The reliability of the tool was established by the split-half method. This was done by correcting the scores on the odd items of the test (1,3,5,7 & so forth) against the even items of the test (2,4,6,8 & so forth).
The co-efficient of reliability was calculated by using the following Spearman’s Brown Prophecy formula.
The reliability value of the mental health scale was found to be 0.625.
Hypothesis:1 There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to gender.
Variable | Gender | N | Mean Variable | SD | Calculated ‘t’ value | Remarks at 5% level |
Mental Health | Male | 159 | 74.60 | 7.971 | 2.478 | S |
Female | 141 | 77.09 | 9.304 |
S – Significant
It is inferred from the above table that the calculated value is greater than table value at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. It shows that there is significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to gender.
Hypothesis:2 There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to medium of instruction.
Variable | Medium of Instruction | N | Mean Variable | SD | Calculated ‘t’ value | Remarks at 5% level |
Mental Health | Tamil | 119 | 73.01 | 7.503 | 4.779 | S |
English | 181 | 77.59 | 8.968 |
S – Significant
It is inferred from the above table that the calculated value is greater than table value at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. It shows that there is significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to medium of instruction.
Hypothesis:3 There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to nature of family.
Variable | Nature of Family | N | Mean Variable | SD | Calculated ‘t’ value | Remarks at 5% level |
Mental Health | Nuclear | 186 | 76.28 | 8.402 | 1.285 | NS |
Joint | 114 | 74.93 | 9.137 |
NS – Not Significant
It is inferred from the above table that the calculated value is less than table value at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. It shows that there is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to nature of family.
Hypothesis:4 There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to locality of institution.
Variable | Locality of Institution | N | Mean Variable | SD | Calculated ‘t’ value | Remarks at 5% level |
Mental Health | Rural | 100 | 78.67 | 9.336 | 3.985 | S |
Urban | 200 | 74.32 | 7.999 |
S – Significant
It is inferred from the above table that the calculated value is greater than table value at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is not rejected. It shows that there is significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to locality of institution.
Hypothesis:5 There is no significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to type of institution.
Variable | Sum of Variance | Sum of Squares | Df | Mean Square variance | Calculated ‘ F ‘ value | Remarks at 5% level |
Mental Health | Between group | 1492.662 | 2 | 746.331 | 10.490 | S |
Within group | 21130.468 | 297 | 71.146 |
S – Significant
It is inferred from the above table that the calculated value is greater than table value at 5% level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. It shows that there is significant difference in the mental health of secondary students with regard to type of institution.
Type of institution | N | Subset for alpha = 0.05 | |
Mean 1 | Mean 2 | ||
Aided | 94 | 73.26 | |
Private | 70 | 74.49 | |
Government | 136 | 78.17 |
The Duncan test infers that government secondary students have more mental health than aided and private secondary students.
Mental health is a vital and fundamental component of health. The promotion and safeguard of mental health can be regarded as an essential concern of individuals, communities, and societies throughout the world. Mental health promotion involves measures that improve psychological well-being. This may involve creating an atmosphere that supports mental health. The risks of mental health problems should be recognized at an early stage and reduced by means of preventive measures. Children, adolescents, and their families should be conversant about the options available in the healthcare system, and access to such services should be enhanced.
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