More Hong Kong secondary school students stressed amid pandemic and class suspension compared to last year, survey shows
- Over 52 per cent of 4,443 pupils surveyed by Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups report a ‘high stress’ index of 7 or higher on a scale of 10
- The figure was 41 per cent last year, and 37 per cent the year before
More Hong Kong secondary school students find themselves stressed amid the Covid-19 pandemic as compared to last year, with almost half of them worried about not being able to catch up with class following months of school suspensions, a survey has revealed.
Other major sources of worry include Covid-19 infection fears and conflicts with peers in a deeply divided society following last year’s social unrest.
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, which released its findings on Thursday, also expressed concerns that nearly 22 per cent of students displayed signs of anxiety, including 5 per cent who showed severe anxiety levels.
“The survey results show that [secondary] school students hold a high standard for themselves in terms of their academic performance, resulting in a higher level of stress,” said the federation’s services coordinator, Hsu Siu-man.
“The Covid-19 pandemic also had an impact on their stress levels, given that classes had been suspended for a long time. Some of them were particularly concerned about whether they had missed out on the syllabus after online classes replaced face-to-face ones.”
More than 52 per cent of 4,443 secondary school pupils surveyed between September and last month reported a “high stress” index of 7 to 10, on a 10-point scale, while 400 students gave themselves a 10 on the self-assessed index.