Abstract
The aim of the ISPCC is to provide support for children and be there 24/7 to assist a child. There has been a lack of previous research looking at social support, particularly family, closer friends and to a lesser extent, support agencies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ISPCC services in practice and its impact on stress, test performance anxiety and self-esteem. The study is a survey design and the sample consists of children (age range 13-18 years old) who have used (SU) and who haven’t used the services (NSUS). There were a total number of 99 girls and 89 boys. They were given a battery of measures including the perceived stress scale, test performance anxiety scale and Rosenberg’s self-esteem questionnaires. The hypotheses were that SU will indicate lower levels of stress, test performance anxiety and higher level of self-esteem than NSUS. The results were significant for stress (F (2, 166) = 11.68, p = 0.005, 1-tailed) and self-esteem (F (2, 171) = 6.52, p = 0.01, 1-tailed); however test performance anxiety result was insignificant (F (2. 171) – 2.53, p = 0.41). Author keywords: ISPCC, social support, stress, self-esteem, test performance, anxiety
