Effectiveness of Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) on Educational Stress among School going Adolescents

Adolescence is a transition period; which involves physical, emotional, mental, socio-sexual as well as educational changes. Adolescents are exposed to great deal of educational stress from parents, peers and the demand in current educational system. Aim: Aim of the study was to determine effectiveness of JPMR on educational stress among school going adolescents. Settings and Design: The study was conducted among 145 adolescents in Kerala, India. In the first phase of the study, a descriptive survey design was used; and in the second phase, experimental approach with before and after with control design was used. Material and Methods: Adolescents with high and moderate educational stress with hypertension, according to NHBPEP (National High Blood Pressure Education Programme) guidelines were classified into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught and practised JPMR for a period of 3 weeks. Statistical analysis used: Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 17.

Most of males (68.85%) and females (65.48%) had moderate educational stress. Highest mean score was for the component pressure from study (11.97) and the lowest mean score was for the component despondency (8.05). McNemer's Chisquare value 16.06 (P<0.001) showed that JPMR was effective in reducing the stress significantly. Conclusions: The results showed there is increasing prevalence of educational stress among adolescents and JPMR is effective in reducing it.