A Study on Stress Level and Coping Strategies among Undergraduate Students
Abstract
Feelings of stress are a part of university students’ life. Stress is simply the body's response to changes that create taxing demands. There is a difference between eustress, which is a term for positive stress, and distress, which refers to negative stress. Coping mechanism plays a significant part to overcome or reduce the stress experienced by individuals. People use different types of coping strategies to overcome their stress. The purpose of the study was to study the relationship between stress and coping strategies among university students. Eighty- six university students participated in the study. A quantitative study utilizing a cross sectional non-probability sampling research design was used to gather data. The data was collected using a questionnaire with the addition of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS) were administered. The result of this study indicated that majority of the university students have moderate level of stress. There was a significant inverse relationship between stress level and coping strategies among undergraduates. In conclusion, some levels of stress can be good, as the right kind of stress encourages them towards change and growth. However, when students are unable to cope with stress, they can become a burden. It is recommended that students should be encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities such as sports to reduce stress.
Keywords: Stress; coping strategies; university students
References
Abdullah, M., Elias, H., Uli, J., & Mahyuddin, R. (2010). Relationship between coping and university adjustment and academic achievement amongst first year undergraduates in a Malaysian Public University. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 3(11), 379-392.
Abdullah, M., Elias, H., & Wong, C. (2011). Stress and academic achievement among undergraduate students in Universiti Putra Malaysia. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences, 29, 646-655.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.288
Adler, N., & Park, C. (2003). Coping Styles as a Predictor of Health and Well Being across the First Year Medical School. Journal of Health Psychology, 22(6), 187-189.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.22.6.627
Anspaugh, D., Hamrick, M., & Rosato, F. (2003). Wellness: Concepts and applications (5th ed.). New York:McGraw-Hill.
Aysan, F., Thompson, D., Hamarat, E., (2001). Test anxiety, coping strategies and perceived health in a group of high school students: A Turkish Sample. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 162, 402-422.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00221320109597492
Bamuhair, S., Farhan, A., Althubaiti, A., Agha, S., Rahman, S., & Ibrahim, N. (2015). Sources of Stress and Coping Strategies among Undergraduate Medical Students Enrolled in a Problem-Based Learning Curiculum. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Biomedical Education. 2015, 1-8.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/575139
Brissette, I., Scheier, M., & Carver, C. (2002). The role of optimism in social network development, coping, and psychological adjustment during a life transition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 102-111.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.102
Chavez N., & French, S. (2007). Ethnicity-related stressors and mental in Latino Americans: The moderating role of parental racial socialization. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 1974-1998.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00246.x
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein. R. (1983). A Global Measure of Perceived Stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 386-396.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
Esia-Donkoh, K., Yelkpieri, D., & Esia-Donkoh, K. (2011). Coping with Stress: Strategies Adopted by Students at the Winneba Campus of University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. US-China Education Review B, 2(2011). 290 - 299.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. (1986). Stress processes and depressive symptomology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 107-113.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.95.2.107
Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (1993). Adolescent Coping Scale: Administrator's Manual. The Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn, Australia.
Hung C. (2011). Coping strategies of primary school teachers in Taiwan experiencing stress because of teacher surplus. Social Behaviour and Personality, 39, 1161-1174.
https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2011.39.9.1161
Hwang, W., & Goto, S. (2008). The impact of perceived racial discrimination on the mental health of Asian American and Latino college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(4), 326-335.
https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.14.4.326
Irshad, S., Saleem, S., & Mahmood, Z. (2015). Coping strategies of university students: A Validation Study. Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 12(1), 8-13.
Johari, A., & Noor Hassim. (2009). Stress and Coping Strategies among Medical Students in National University of Malaysia, Malaysia University of Sabah and Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak. Journal of Community Health, 15(2), 106-115.
Kumar, S., & Bhukar, J. (2013). Stress Level and Coping Strategies of College Students. Journal of Physical Education and Sports Management, 4(1), 5-10.
Li, H., & Lin, C. (2003). College stress and psychological well-being of Chinese college students. Acta Psychological Sinica, 35(2), 222-230.
Madlan, L., Bahari, F., & Ardillah, F. (2012). Stress and Coping Skills among University Students: A Preliminary Research on Ethnicity. Southeast Asia Psychology Journal, 1(2012), 31-37.
Misigo, B. (2015). Gender difference in the perceived level of stress and coping strategies among university students in Kenya: A case of public universities. International Academic Journal of Social Sciences and Education, 1(4), 44-52.
Mori, S. (2000). Addressing the mental health concerns of international students. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 137-144.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb02571.x
Ostwald, S. B., & Riddock, C. C. (2007). What to do about being overwhelmed: Graduate students, stress and university services. College Student Affairs Journal, 27(1), 24-44.
Pariat, L., Rynjah, A., Joplin., Kharjana, M. (2014). Stress Level of College Students: Interelationship between Stressors and Coping Strategies. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 19(8), 40-46.
https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-19834046
Randall, M., Naka, K., Yamamoto, K., Nakamoto, H., Arkaki, H., & Ogura, C. (2000). Assessment of psychosocial stressors and maladjustment among foreign students of the University of the Ryukyus. Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 58, 289-98.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1819.1998.00396.x
Shaikh, B., Kahloon, A., Kazmi, M., Khalid, H., Nawaz, K., Khan, N. A., Khan, S. (2004). Students, Stress and Coping Strategies: A Case of Pakistani Medical School. Education for Health, 17(3), 346-353.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13576280400002585
Singh, N., & Kohli, C. (2015). Stress reaction and coping strategies among nursing students in Delhi. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 5(2), 274-278. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1703436631?accountid=40705
https://doi.org/10.5958/2349-2996.2015.00054.3
Thawabieh, M. A., & Qaisy, M. L. (2012). Assessing Stress among University Students. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 2(2), 110-116.
Turashvili, T., & Japaridze, M. (2013). Coping Strategies of University Students in Georgian Context. Problem of Education in the 21st Century, 56, 144-149.
https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/13.56.144
Turner, F., & Smith, J. (2015). A Comparative Study on The Stress Levels of Black, White, Asian, and Latino Undergraduate Students. Journal of Research Initiatives, 1(3), 6-11.
Waghachavare, V., Dhumale, G., Kadam, Y., & Gore, A. (2013). A Study of Stress among Students of Professional Colleges from an Urban Area in India. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 13(3), 429-436.
https://doi.org/10.12816/0003266
Wang, C. (2005). Investigation on the stress state of undergraduate. Chinese Journal of Health Psychology, 13(4), 312-313.
Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2012). Educational Psychology Australian Edition. Pearson Higher Education AU. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books
Yusoff, M. (2010). Stress, Stressors and Coping Strategies among Secondary School Students in a Malaysian Government Secondary School: Initial Findings. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 11(2), 1-15.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
4) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
5) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
