Name: Alok Kumar Raj
Country: India

Year: 2024
Volume: Volume-9, Issue-2 (July-December)
Page Number: 143-156

ABSTRACT
Adolescence is a formative stage in which emotional development, academic identity, peer relationships, and self-belief interact closely with mental health. The present study examines the role of peer support and academic self-efficacy in shaping mental health among school-going adolescents. The study is based on secondary data, established psychological theories, and an analytical dataset prepared for statistical interpretation. The study uses descriptive statistics, correlation, t-test, ANOVA,
and multiple regression to examine the association among peer support, academic self-efficacy, and adolescent mental-health status. The analysis indicates that peer support and academic self-efficacy are positively associated with mental-health outcomes. Adolescents with higher peer support and stronger academic self-efficacy reported lower psychological distress and better emotional adjustment. Regression results show that academic self-efficacy and peer support jointly explain a substantial
portion of variance in mental-health scores. The study concludes that adolescent mental-health promotion should include peer-sensitive school climate, cooperative learning, anti-bullying mechanisms, academic confidence-building, and counselling support. The findings are relevant for
school psychologists, teachers, counsellors, parents, and educational policymakers.

Keywords: peer support, academic self-efficacy, adolescent mental health, school-going adolescents, psychological well-being, school climate.