Abstract This research investigates the effect of parental pressure on mental stress and academic achievement of school-aged children in Myanmar. A total of 580 middle school students were studied from four basic education high schools and one basic education middle school in Mandalay, Myanmar. They were given the Perceived Parental Pressure Scale and the School Anxiety Scale, with the help of scores obtained on Raven's Progressive Matrices, the subjects were divided into three intelligence level groups. The Perceived Parental Pressure Scale is a 15-item tool with a 3-point scale format to measure the child's perceptions of parental high standard for academic achievement. The School Anxiety Scale contains 28-item tool with 4-point scale format to assess the level of intensity of the school anxiety state. Raven's Progressive Matrices, is a nonverbal intelligence test consisting 36 matrices or designs which demand the subject's completion to determine his or her level of intelligence. Results show that there was a negative correlation, i.e. - .09 between intelligence and parental pressure. Correlation between intelligence and achievement was moderate with a value of .36. Moreover, the difference between the effect of parental pressure on mental stress and achievement of high intelligence groups and that of low intelligence groups was not significant by analyzing with the ANOVA, but with medium intelligence groups it served as a driving force to achieve. Then, the female subjects responded to parental pressure more than male and they achieved success in education higher than the males. According to the findings, if the parents want to push their children to achieve their target, it would be effective with children who are average in intelligence under medium intensity pressure.