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Development of a Self-Reported Measure of Academic Pressure Among Secondary-School Students: The Academic Pressure Questionnaire

Marie A. E. Mueller Orcid Logo, Chris Bonell, Tamsin J. Ford, Carolina Gutiérrez Muñoz, Ann John Orcid Logo, Glyn Lewis, Rebecca Meiksin, Simon Murphy, George Ploubidis, Ruth Ponsford, Frances Rice, Thomas Steare, Alice Sullivan, Neisha Sundaram, Nerissa Tilouche, Gemma Lewis Orcid Logo

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Swansea University Author: Ann John Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/13591045261430414

Abstract

Purpose: There is evidence that academic pressure has been rising among adolescents in the UK. While this may be a modifiable risk factor for mental health problems, there are few validated measures of academic pressure and all have limitations. Methods: With secondary-school students, we co-produce...

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Published in: Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
ISSN: 1359-1045 1461-7021
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71591
Abstract: Purpose: There is evidence that academic pressure has been rising among adolescents in the UK. While this may be a modifiable risk factor for mental health problems, there are few validated measures of academic pressure and all have limitations. Methods: With secondary-school students, we co-produced a student-reported measure of academic pressure, the 7-item Academic Pressure Questionnaire (APQ). This was included in the baseline survey of students aged 12-13 within the Positive Choices trial, a whole-school intervention to promote sexual health in English secondary schools. We ran factor analyses and assessed internal consistency, associations with sex and depressive symptoms, and variation in academic pressure between schools. Results: We extracted one factor (Cronbach’s alpha 0.76). Female students had higher APQ scores than males (mean difference = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.88 to 2.49). Higher APQ scores were associated with more depressive symptoms (coefficient = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.48 to 0.55) and associations were larger in female than male students (p value for interaction <0.001). School-level factors explained 2.6% of variation in APQ scores after adjusting for individual-level factors (ICC = 0.026, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.06). Conclusion: The APQ is a valid and reliable tool to investigate academic pressure in secondary-school adolescents.
Keywords: academic pressure; mental health; schools
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Funders: The Positive Choices study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research in England under its Public Health Research Board (131487). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, or the Department of Health for England. This work was supported by the UCL Health of the Public small grants scheme and the Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF). Gemma Lewis is supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (grant number 223248/Z/21/Z). Tamsin Ford’s research group receives funding for research methods consultancy from Place2Be, a third sector organisation that provides mental health training, support, and interventions to schools across the UK. Glyn Lewis received grant funding from the NIHR, Wellcome Trust, UKRI and UCLH BRC, and travel and accommodation expenses to attend ECNP 2023. Ann John is funded by Health and Care Research Wales through the National Centre for Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Research. Thomas Steare acknowledges funding from the Wellcome Trust (218497/Z/19/Z). The Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health was established with funding from the Wolfson Foundation.

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