Effect of Emotion Focused Coping Techniques of Stress Management on Secondary School Student Leadership in Kenya

Mudis Pamela Akinyi^1, , Peter Odera² and John Yambo³

¹Department of Educational Psychology, Kisii University, Kenya

²Department of Educational Psychology, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya

³Department of Educational Administration, Planning and Economics, Kisii University, Kenya

Cite this paper:
Mudis Pamela Akinyi, Peter Odera and John Yambo. Effect of Emotion Focused Coping Techniques of Stress Management on Secondary School Student Leadership in Kenya. American Journal of Educational Research. 2017; 5(9):996-1003. doi: 10.12691/education-5-9-12

Abstract

There are many factors in student leadership which predispose student leaders to high levels of stress. This include; students discipline, communication, enforcing school rules, decision making and balancing leadership and academic roles. The increase in student leaders stress is alarming thus the need to focus on stress management techniques that they employ. This study assessed the effect of emotion focused coping techniques of stress management and secondary school student leadership in, Kenya. The study hypotheses stated that` there was no significant effect of emotion focused coping techniques and secondary school student leadership. Emotion focused coping technique is a personal effort to deal with negative feelings caused by a stressful event and may include venting, rumination, emotional support and religion. Student leadership refers to the roles that student leaders participate in within the school setting which involve, communication, Students discipline, coordination decision making, Planning, and monitoring of student’s activities. The Cognitive Appraisal theory was applied in the study. The research designs used were descriptive and correlational in nature. The target population was 4143 respondents out of which were 3825 student leaders, 159 head teachers and 159 deputy head teachers within 159 secondary schools in Kenya. Stratified random sampling technique and saturated sampling technique were used to select 1275 student leaders, 53 deputy head teachers and 53 head teachers as respondents for the study. Data was harvested using questionnaires and interview schedules. Pearson r correlation, percentages and frequency counts was used in data analysis. Study results indicate that there was weak positive correlation between emotion focused coping techniques and student leadership [r = .197, n=1126, p<.05. The study also revealed the existence of a weak effect of emotion focused coping technique on student leadership. In the current study, it was recommended that student leaders require training in stress management techniques, emotional awareness and leadership training.

Keywords:
emotion focused coping techniques stress management techniques student leadership

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