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Stress-Related Growth in Japanese Adolescents Experiencing High School Entrance Examinations

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Abstract

High school entrance examinations and preparation for them have become a highly stressful experience for many Japanese adolescents. This study examined the relationship between stress-related growth (SRG) and distress resulting from these exams from the perspective of positive meaning-making. Ninth graders (N = 183, 87 females, aged 14–15 years) of a public school in Tokyo participated in the study by responding to a questionnaire survey. Results indicated that meaning-making was positively correlated with SRG (r = .58, p < .001), whereas it was negatively correlated with distress (r = −.20, p = .006). Moreover, SRG was negatively correlated with distress (r = −.34, p < .001). Mediation analysis demonstrated that SRG positively mediates the relationship between meaning-making and distress, while distress negatively mediates the relationship between meaning-making and SRG. These results have implications for understanding the causal relationships between SRG and distress, from the perspective of positive meaning-making regarding high school entrance examinations in Japan.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16J01937.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Chuo University, 742-1 Higashinakano Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, 192-0393, Japan

    Shuhei Iimura

  2. Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Shuhei Iimura

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  1. Shuhei Iimura
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Correspondence to Shuhei Iimura.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

First author has received research grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Iimura, S. Stress-Related Growth in Japanese Adolescents Experiencing High School Entrance Examinations. Curr Psychol 37, 803–808 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9564-1

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