Profiles of school anxiety response and differences in stress factors in Spanish Primary Education students

Abstract

School anxiety is among the most common attendance problems in childhood and one of the main causes of school absenteeism. This emotional response is linked to other non-specific reactions, such as school-based distress. However, in Spain, there are no studies analyzing the relationship between different forms of school anxiety and school-based distress. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between school anxiety profiles and school-based distress in a sample of Spanish Primary School children. A sample of 660 Spanish students aged 8–11 years (M = 10.04, SD = 1.37) was recruited through cluster sampling. The results revealed positive and statistically significant relationships between school anxiety and school-based distress. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four profiles of school anxiety (Low, Moderate-Low, Moderate-High, and High School Anxiety). The MANOVA results confirmed that students with high school anxiety obtained higher scores in the different sources of school-based distress. The conclusions advocate the planning and development of psychoeducational actions adapted to the pattern of anxiogenic reactivity and the sources of stress in Spanish Primary School students.