From the Perspective of Regional Educational Differences: An Analysis of Freshmen's Anxiety and Its Causes

Abstract

This study explores anxiety among Chinese ordinary undergraduate freshmen, focusing on regional educational differences to clarify its manifestations, causes, and interventions. Freshmen's anxiety mainly includes three types: academic anxiety from uneven pre-college preparation and difficulties adapting to college assessment methods, social anxiety from limited prior social experience and poor campus integration, and life adaptation anxiety from independent living challenges, homesickness, cultural mismatches, and extra pressure on rural first-generation students. Regional educational differences are the core causes, involving uneven basic resource distribution, exam-centric models in less-developed regions lacking college-ready skill training, cultural disparities, plus high family expectations. Multi-level intervention strategies can effectively alleviate such anxiety, including targeted academic support, social integration activities, and professional mental health services provided by schools, realistic expectations and supportive communication maintained by families, as well as practical skill acquisition and a focus on personal progress adopted by students themselves. This study addresses gaps in elite university-focused research and informs targeted guidance.