The Impact of Boarding on Anxiety Among High School Students

Chengrong Tian

, Xinyan Wang

2,*

and Yulin Wang

School of Foreign Languages, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen, 333000, China

HD Bilingual School, Shanghai, 200000, China

Academy of Fine Arts, Taizhou College of Nanjing Normal University, Jiangsu Province Taizhou City, 225300, China

Keywords: Boarding, Anxiety, Student, Education, Psychology.

Abstract: The difference of high school students in the degree of anxiety are the highlight questions in educational

psychology. Some researchers have found that boarding and non-boarding have a significant impact on the

formation of anxiety. However, there is still a lack of unified explanation for the formation mechanism and

scope of anxiety. Therefore, the research topic of this paper is the impact of boarding on anxiety. The research

method include: firstly, the data of the anxiety self-measurement form are collected; secondly, the data are

analyzed based on different groups. Comparison between groups was conducted. Based on the results, it is

found that boarding has no significant effect on anxiety level. There are limitations in this study, which only

takes students in FTS students. There are still many other influencing factors, such as family status, school

day system, which are not considered in this study. However, this study provides empirical evidence on the

impact of boarding on anxiety.

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Backgrounds of Theory

There are many ways in which boarding schools

differ from non-boarding schools. In terms of living

environment, it decouples students from their original

home and community environment, making the

school the primary and singular environment for

students' growth; In terms of social relationships,

students spend less time with their parents and other

family members, and spend more time with

classmates and teachers, thus forming closer

relationships. From the perspective of school

management, boarding schools not only provide

education and accommodation, but also have a more

refined management model, and students' daily life,

learning and entertainment are regularly managed.

This study studied the differences in anxiety caused

by different factors such as learning pressure,

competitive environment, and self-expectation

caused by different management styles. That is,

whether boarding can have an impact on students'

mental health, and what are the differences between

boarding students and students in full-time schools

Corresponding author

(FTS), are issues that need to be studied urgently.

Therefore, this study selected boarding students and

non-boarding students in semi-boarding high schools

as the survey subjects to study the differences in their

anxiety status.

By systematically combing the relevant literature,

this study aims to clarify the theoretical framework

and evolution path of this field, and provide in-depth

knowledge support for academic research. In addition,

it is hoped to provide enlightenment for the

optimization and supplementation of theoretical

models.

Through the analysis of methods and practices in

the literature, this study will provide an empirical

reference for solving specific problems.

1.2 Research Review

International Scholars conducted research on sleep,

exploring the effects of sleep on anxiety. Since high

school students have very short breaks, the impact of

adequate sleep on high school students is very high.

Additionally, boarding students might have more

chances to engage with and pick up knowledge from

their teachers and peers (Martin et al., 2014). When

166

Tian, C., Wang, X. and Wang, Y.

The Impact of Boarding on Anxiety Among High School Students.

DOI: 10.5220/0014109900004942

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management (APMM 2025), pages 166-169

ISBN: 978-989-758-791-7

they register, boarding students encounter particular

difficulties, including as acclimating to a new setting

where they are cut off from friends, family, and

culture for as long as 40 weeks annually. Sleep is one

such difficulty. Another challenge is coping with the

need for sleep and its potential impact on mental

health (Reardon et al., 2023).

Regarding boarding school syndrome, research in

countries other than China shows a diverse trend.

Although there is rare evidence that boarding schools

have a negative impact on students, "boarding school

syndrome" is widely recognized. There is a link

between boarding school syndrome and a higher

incidence of mental health problems (Hope Therapy

& Counselling Services, 2023).

In recent years, Chinese scholars have made

remarkable progress in family education. Regarding

the impact of anxiety caused by boarding, Chinese

scholars, in terms of the influencing mechanisms,

through an investigation of parent - child

relationships, peer relationships, and school

management, have found that because boarding

increases bullying on school and decreases parent-

child engagement, it has an impact on students'

mental health. Within boarding schools, the negative

emotions of peers are more contagious. In schools

with long regulated study hours and strict

management, boarding affects students' anxiety.

A full-time institution that offers residential

accommodations to students is known as a boarding

school. such as accommodation and meals. It must be

fully responsible for students' study, daily life, and

safety during their time at school. Compared with

students in FTS, the responsibility of family

education is more transferred to the school than in non

- boarding schools. Another type of boarding school

usually emerges to solve the educational problems of

children from disadvantaged and needy groups. In

China, boarding schools are usually located in

economically underdeveloped rural areas. This paper

will focus on the issue of anxiety for discussion.

Anxiety refers to the anticipation of future worries

and is more related to muscle tension and avoidance

behavior. This research indicates that anxiety leads

people to try to avoid situations that trigger or

exacerbate its symptoms. Work performance,

academic performance, and interpersonal

relationships can all be affected (Muskin et al., 2023).

Another set of studies shows that being separated

from parents in childhood and boarding at school can

lead to psychological alienation, which is then

associated with a series of emotional problems

(Ingoglia et al., 2011; Mander et al., 2015; Mander &

Lester 2017). Some studies also believe that boarding

brings many beneficial conditions to students.

According to certain empirical research, boarding on

campus benefits students' academic and emotional

growth. They argue that boarders can experience a

communal living and learning environment through

boarding schools. Boarders can spend more time

using school facilities like libraries and gyms than

non-boarders (Wang & Zhang, 2020).

Although research in China on the impact of the

environment on anxiety started relatively late, many

studies have achieved breakthroughs through

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory which

holds that there is an interaction between people and

the environment. The mental health of adolescents is

also affected by their surrounding environment, and

the microsystem theory of the ecological system

reveals that family, peers, and school in adolescence

all have a more direct, intuitive, and important impact

on the development of adolescents' mental health.

Boarders and students in FTS are in different

environments. Students in FTS not only have a lot of

contact with teachers and classmates in the school

environment but also have close contact with family

members in the home environment. However, the

main living and learning environment for boarders is

the school, and they spend less time in the home

environment. Therefore, they lack contact with

parents and have more contact with teachers and

classmates. Moreover, the emotional support from

teachers and peers can, to a certain extent,

compensate for the emotional support from their

parents. Thus, there are certain differences between

boarders and students in FTS in the environments

they have close contact with) (Zhu, 2023). A

comparative analysis of the differences in the impact

of boarding and day - school management on the

anxiety of high - school students has not been fully

explored.

1.3 Implications of the Literature

Review and Research Directions

Based on a comprehensive summary of existing

research, future research can be deepened in the

following aspects:

Researchers integrate multiple psychological

theories to further explore the unresolved issues in

anxiety and construct a more universal theoretical

framework. By introducing new research tools and

techniques (such as artificial intelligence, behavioral

experiments), researchers can improve the accuracy

of data and the persuasiveness of results. At the same

time, in response to the practical problems in the

current field, more operational plans can be designed,

The Impact of Boarding on Anxiety Among High School Students

167

and their effectiveness can be verified through field

research or pilot projects.

2 RESEARCH OBJECT

2.1 Sample

The study selected boarding high school students and

FTS high school students a as the objects of

investigation. The specific implementation method is

to randomly select 45 boys and 45 girls from boarding

schools of different grades in the same high school,

and select 45 and 45 from students in FTS of different

grades in the same high school, a total of 120 high

school students, the male-female ratio is 1:1.

2.2 Scale Description

The study used the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS)

developed by American paediatrician Zung, a scale

used to review an individual's anxiety status. A total

of 20 questions (5 points for each question) were

answered according to the self-assessment, and the

total score was added up with excel, multiplied by 1.

25 and then rounded to obtain the standard score

(Zung, 1971). The results of three grades of a high

school were divided into four parts: Normal: standard

score less than 50 points Mild anxiety: 50-59

Moderate anxiety:60-69 Severe anxiety: ≥ 70. The

scale is composed of 15 somatic symptoms and 5 15

sonatic symptom and Safective symptom. Cronbach

reliability analysis method was used to test the

reliability of the scale. The reliability of the scale was

controlled in the range of 0. 7-0. 8.

The Self-rating Anxiety Scale is applicable to

normal people of various occupations, cultural classes

and age groups or patients with mental disorders. It

can accurately and quickly reflect the subjective

anxiety degree of the subjects, and can be used for the

subjects to understand their own anxiety status, and

can also be used to compare the situation of anxiety

patients before and after treatment.

2.3 Procedure

The study was conducted in Shanghai on December

22, 2024 totally 180 questionnaires (90 boys and 90

girls) (90 boarders and 90 students in FTSs) were

distributed to each grade of the high school (60

questionnaires for each grade).

All the queationnaires were collected from each

grade of a high school on December 25, 2024. In the

study, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the

difference of anxiety between boarding and day

school students. The reliability test of the ASA

anxiety self-rating scale was carried out, and the

difference of students' anxiety degree was analyzed.

3 RESULTS

A total of 180 high school students were selected in

the study, and the ratio of boarding and students in

FTSs was 1:1. The completion rate of the 20

questions in the questionnaire was 100%, and the

answer efficiency was 100%.

Table 1. The results of the difference test.

Boarding or not

t P

Yes(n

=103)

No(n

=19)

xiety

39.

08±13.

36.

26±11.

853

395

The results of independent sample T-test showed

that boarding or not had no significant influence on

anxiety, t (120) =0. 853, p=395. The average anxiety

degree of boarding students (n=103) was 39. 08

(SD=13. 52), and that of non-boarding students (n=19)

was 36. 26 (SD=11. 31). This suggests that there is no

statistically significant association between students'

boarding status and their anxiety levels in this study

sample (See Table 1).

4 DISCUSSION

The sample is high-school students, whose age is

higher than that of the groups in previous

psychological studies on students in FTS and

boarders. High - school students, aged 16 - 18, are at

the end of adolescence. Their mental state, thinking

ability, and the validity of their responses to

questionnaires are higher than primary and middle -

school students in previous studies. Students at this

age can answer questions about their current

psychological state more objectively and rationally.

Secondly, this study focuses on the impact of –FTS

and boarding on the anxiety level of the research

subjects. Previous studies, however, mainly

concentrated on the influence on students' character

cultivation, development, and daily life. The choice

of high - school students as the research group in this

study is mainly due to the fact that high - school

APMM 2025 - International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management

168

students face greater academic pressure and higher

parental expectations. Taking boarding as a variable

is more in line with the actual situation of China's

education system. The results of previous studies

mainly emphasized the disadvantages of boarding,

while this study delves deeper into whether there is an

inevitable connection between boarding and students'

psychological state.

Only one school is the selected，but for students

in FTSs and boarders, there are still many other

influencing factors such as family status and school

system, which are not taken into account in this study.

In terms of research methods, this paper only selects

students from one high school for questionnaire

survey without considering the influence of different

schools and regions, so the sample range is narrow

and the sample size is relatively small. Secondly,

from the perspective of day school and boarding

variables, the study considers some other factors in

the actual situation, such as the distance of the best

home address, the family education atmosphere,

school dormitory atmosphere, and the severity of the

class system. The selection of influencing factors for

variables is not comprehensive and does not cover all

the contents. Thirdly, there is a lack of knowledge to

supplement the previous studies and literature

citations, and there are few references in this study,

which leads to the exploratory and preliminary nature

of the study. As for the future direction, the teaching

effect of the current education system in China should

be investigated. Future research may consider the

differences between the boarding or not, and the

family status of students and the school management

system as variables.

5 CONCLUSION

The impact of boarding on the anxiety levels of high

school students were investigated in this study. Data

were gathered from 180 students in a Shanghai high

school, evenly split by boarding status and gender,

using the self-report scale. The findings indicated that

no significant difference between day and boarding

school students. Although boarding students' average

anxiety scores were marginally higher, the difference

was not statistically significant, indicating that

boarding status may not have a major impact on

anxiety on its own. These findings offer a fresh

perspective on the boarding school experience,

highlighting the importance of contextual factors in

shaping students' mental health outcomes.

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

All the authors contributed equally and their names

were listed in alphabetical order.

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