stress among college students essay

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Academic Stress Among Students

The vast majority of people experience stress at work or university and in their personal lives. One hears the annoying story of another person and experiences pressure. He or she avoids eye contact because of the inability to cope with negative feelings. Stress becomes more and more common nowadays. According to the definition given by World Health Organization (WHO), stress is the reaction of the body such as mental, physical, emotional, and chemical to anything that scares irritates or threatens it (“Stress at the workplace”, 2017).

Most importantly, mental health is significantly affected by stress, causing such outcomes as depression, insomnia, worsened relationships with others, anxiety, etc. The latter are the characteristic symptoms of distress, while temporary eustress makes the opposite effect, helping a person to meet the deadlines, cope with emotions, etc. There are different types of stress, including workplace, academic, personal, health, environmental, and so on. Focusing on academic stress, one may mote that student life is full of tense situations, and students often experience stress. Most students develop stress due to a large flow of information, the lack of systematic work during the semester, and dissatisfaction with life (Coccia & Darling, 2016).

Informational stress arises as a result of information overload when a person cannot cope with the task or does not have time to make decisions at a given rate. In case a student cannot handle the study load, it is possible to specify information excess.

The students encounter various potential sources of stress. For instance, one of them is associated with the beginning of a new life. For many students, the university period refers to the first time they live independently. They left the safety of the family home, and they are no longer under the care of the responsible adults. It is expected that they will take care of themselves as much as they can, solving tasks such as eating, cleaning, time controlling, etc. Even if most college students are ready for this task, it remains significant and capable of generating stress for many of them, especially for freshmen and sophomore students (Misra & McKean, 2000).

Another antecedent of academic stress is noted by Manjula (2016): “time management is reported to be a major problem“ (p. 110). The inability to properly plan various activities and organize learning-leisure balance leads to a lack of free time. The human body and mind need time to rest, and some passive rest is often the best way to prevent stress. However, student life often does not allow this, especially for those students who try to stay in rhythm. In particular, rest does not bring relaxation, and a student experiences continuous anxiety and tiredness.

Eating and sleeping patterns compose one more area that may cause stress. Fast food, the lack of healthy nutrition, preference of nightclubs instead of sleeping, and other related factors lead to the increased risk of academic stress in students. At the same time, eating and sleeping act as the key patterns to prevent stress. For example, as revealed in the recent study by Dusselier, Dunn, Wang, Shelley II, & Whalen (2005), the main way to overcome stress is sleeping that allows the human body to recover. Among the consequences of stress, there are fatigue, headache, constipation, diarrhea, the disordered model of sleep, nervousness, lack of appetite, etc. Many of the mentioned signs may not always be obvious to others until they become rather dangerous. The early signs of academic stress are usually associated with student behavior.

According to the study conducted by Khan, Altaf, and Kausar (2013), there are some of the behavioral changes that may indicate that a student is suffering from stress and may need help: frequent absence from classes, decrease in grades, consumption of alcohol and drugs, increased aggression or emotionality, and constant desire to seclude. If a student has several of the above symptoms, it is likely that he or she faces some extent of stress. Leaving this load unattended for a long period of time, a student falls at risk of developing depression (Khan et al., 2013). The latter can also occur if a traumatic event will happen at a time when a student is already suffering from stress.

This is a rather serious problem that can immediately require professional help. Some of the most common mental symptoms associated with depression include irrational thinking, excessive weight gain or weight loss, too long or too short sleeping, a marked feeling of hopelessness, or even suicidal thoughts. It is essential to note that students do not react to stress in the same way as academic stress is what they feel as a result of internal and external factors, social interaction, and study load. Every student will react to stress antecedents in his or her own way and develop specific consequences, even if the requirements for them are identical.

To manage academic stress among students, one should understand that it is easier to prevent it rather than to address the consequences. Maroney (2010) emphasizes that teachers and students should be careful not to miss situations where a certain level of stress is expected. For example, during exams, everyone experiences some stress, which makes it much more likely to skip warning signs of a particular student. In such a situation, it is easy to overlook the symptoms of stress in individuals. In this regard, teachers should be attentive and be ready to offer their help and advice, if required. At the same time, students should also make efforts to reduce stressful situations.

Häfner, Stock, and Oberst (2015) propose the importance of time management training, claiming that task lists, prioritization, and long-term plans are likely to help a student to manage his or her time effectively. For most students, communication with friends or a beloved one is used to reduce stress, discuss problems, and relax. Social interaction may be also beneficial in the form of support from relatives and other closest people. Another way to relieve stress is physical activity, which is positive for a student in a stressful situation. A healthy diet should be accompanied by regular physical exercises to increase energy, improve concentration, relaxation, and sleeping.

More to the point, regular exercising also positively affects susceptibility to stress, as it enhances one’s self-confidence and self-esteem. Thus, the problem of stress is complex and multifaceted. To prevent academic stress effectively, it is necessary to engage students, teachers, social educators, and psychologists. The professional motivation of students, as well as the introduction of the basics of a healthy lifestyle and training courses into the learning process, are the key strategies to reduce and cope with stressful situations.

Coccia, C., & Darling, C. A. (2016). Having the time of their life: College student stress, dating and satisfaction with life. Stress and Health , 32 (1), 28-35. Web.

Dusselier, L., Dunn, B., Wang, Y., Shelley II, M. C., & Whalen, D. F. (2005). Personal, health, academic, and environmental predictors of stress for residence hall students. Journal of American College Health , 54 (1), 15-24. Web.

Häfner, A., Stock, A., & Oberst, V. (2015). Decreasing students’ stress through time management training: An intervention study. European Journal of Psychology of Education , 30 (1), 81-94. Web.

Khan, M. J., Altaf, S., & Kausar, H. (2013). Effect of perceived academic stress on students’ performance. FWU Journal of Social Sciences , 7 (2), 146-151. Web.

Manjula, M. (2016). Academic stress management: An intervention in pre-university college youth. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology , 42 (1), 105-113. Web.

Maroney, B. R. (2010). Exploring non-traditional adult undergraduate student persistence and non-persistence in higher education: A stress and coping model approach . Web.

Misra, R., & McKean, M. (2000). College students’ academic stress and its relation to their anxiety, time management, and leisure satisfaction. American Journal of Health Studies , 16 (1), 41-51. Web.

Stress at the workplace . (2017).

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Academic Stress and Mental Well-Being in College Students: Correlations, Affected Groups, and COVID-19

Georgia barbayannis.

1 Department of Neurology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States

Mahindra Bandari

Xiang zheng.

2 Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States

Humberto Baquerizo

3 Office for Diversity and Community Engagement, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States

Keith W. Pecor

4 Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, United States

Associated Data

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Academic stress may be the single most dominant stress factor that affects the mental well-being of college students. Some groups of students may experience more stress than others, and the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic could further complicate the stress response. We surveyed 843 college students and evaluated whether academic stress levels affected their mental health, and if so, whether there were specific vulnerable groups by gender, race/ethnicity, year of study, and reaction to the pandemic. Using a combination of scores from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS) and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), we found a significant correlation between worse academic stress and poor mental well-being in all the students, who also reported an exacerbation of stress in response to the pandemic. In addition, SWEMWBS scores revealed the lowest mental health and highest academic stress in non-binary individuals, and the opposite trend was observed for both the measures in men. Furthermore, women and non-binary students reported higher academic stress than men, as indicated by PAS scores. The same pattern held as a reaction to COVID-19-related stress. PAS scores and responses to the pandemic varied by the year of study, but no obvious patterns emerged. These results indicate that academic stress in college is significantly correlated to psychological well-being in the students who responded to this survey. In addition, some groups of college students are more affected by stress than others, and additional resources and support should be provided to them.

Introduction

Late adolescence and emerging adulthood are transitional periods marked by major physiological and psychological changes, including elevated stress (Hogan and Astone, 1986 ; Arnett, 2000 ; Shanahan, 2000 ; Spear, 2000 ; Scales et al., 2015 ; Romeo et al., 2016 ; Barbayannis et al., 2017 ; Chiang et al., 2019 ; Lally and Valentine-French, 2019 ; Matud et al., 2020 ). This pattern is particularly true for college students. According to a 2015 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, three in four college students self-reported feeling stressed, while one in five college students reported stress-related suicidal ideation (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ). Studies show that a stressor experienced in college may serve as a predictor of mental health diagnoses (Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Indeed, many mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorder, begin during this period (Blanco et al., 2008 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Saleh et al., 2017 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

Stress experienced by college students is multi-factorial and can be attributed to a variety of contributing factors (Reddy et al., 2018 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). A growing body of evidence suggests that academic-related stress plays a significant role in college (Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Dusselier et al., 2005 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Hj Ramli et al., 2018 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ). For instance, as many as 87% of college students surveyed across the United States cited education as their primary source of stress (American Psychological Association, 2020 ). College students are exposed to novel academic stressors, such as an extensive academic course load, substantial studying, time management, classroom competition, financial concerns, familial pressures, and adapting to a new environment (Misra and Castillo, 2004 ; Byrd and McKinney, 2012 ; Ekpenyong et al., 2013 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ketchen Lipson et al., 2015 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Academic stress can reduce motivation, hinder academic achievement, and lead to increased college dropout rates (Pascoe et al., 2020 ).

Academic stress has also been shown to negatively impact mental health in students (Li and Lin, 2003 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Mental, or psychological, well-being is one of the components of positive mental health, and it includes happiness, life satisfaction, stress management, and psychological functioning (Ryan and Deci, 2001 ; Tennant et al., 2007 ; Galderisi et al., 2015 ; Trout and Alsandor, 2020 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Positive mental health is an understudied but important area that helps paint a more comprehensive picture of overall mental health (Tennant et al., 2007 ; Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, positive mental health has been shown to be predictive of both negative and positive mental health indicators over time (Margraf et al., 2020 ). Further exploring the relationship between academic stress and mental well-being is important because poor mental well-being has been shown to affect academic performance in college (Tennant et al., 2007 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Freire et al., 2016 ).

Perception of academic stress varies among different groups of college students (Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, female college students report experiencing increased stress than their male counterparts (Misra et al., 2000 ; Eisenberg et al., 2007 ; Evans et al., 2018 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Male and female students also respond differently to stressors (Misra et al., 2000 ; Verma et al., 2011 ). Moreover, compared to their cisgender peers, non-binary students report increased stressors and mental health issues (Budge et al., 2020 ). The academic year of study of the college students has also been shown to impact academic stress levels (Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Wyatt et al., 2017 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ). While several studies indicate that racial/ethnic minority groups of students, including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students, are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and suicidality than their white peers (Lesure-Lester and King, 2004 ; Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ), these studies are limited and often report mixed or inconclusive findings (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Therefore, more studies should be conducted to address this gap in research to help identify subgroups that may be disproportionately impacted by academic stress and lower well-being.

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major stressor that has led to a mental health crisis (American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Dong and Bouey, 2020 ). For college students, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes and disruptions to daily life, elevated stress levels, and mental and physical health deterioration (American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). While any college student is vulnerable to these stressors, these concerns are amplified for members of minority groups (Salerno et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; McQuaid et al., 2021 ; Prowse et al., 2021 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Identifying students at greatest risk provides opportunities to offer support, resources, and mental health services to specific subgroups.

The overall aim of this study was to assess academic stress and mental well-being in a sample of college students. Within this umbrella, we had several goals. First, to determine whether a relationship exists between the two constructs of perceived academic stress, measured by the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS), and mental well-being, measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), in college students. Second, to identify groups that could experience differential levels of academic stress and mental health. Third, to explore how the perception of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affected stress levels. We hypothesized that students who experienced more academic stress would have worse psychological well-being and that certain groups of students would be more impacted by academic- and COVID-19-related stress.

Materials and Methods

Survey instrument.

A survey was developed that included all questions from the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being (Tennant et al., 2007 ; Stewart-Brown and Janmohamed, 2008 ) and from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale is a seven-item scale designed to measure mental well-being and positive mental health (Tennant et al., 2007 ; Fung, 2019 ; Shah et al., 2021 ). The Perception of Academic Stress Scale is an 18-item scale designed to assess sources of academic stress perceived by individuals and measures three main academic stressors: academic expectations, workload and examinations, and academic self-perceptions of students (Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). These shorter scales were chosen to increase our response and study completion rates (Kost and de Rosa, 2018 ). Both tools have been shown to be valid and reliable in college students with Likert scale responses (Tennant et al., 2007 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ringdal et al., 2018 ; Fung, 2019 ; Koushede et al., 2019 ). Both the SWEMWBS and PAS scores are a summation of responses to the individual questions in the instruments. For the SWEMWBS questions, a higher score indicates better mental health, and scores range from 7 to 35. Similarly, the PAS questions are phrased such that a higher score indicates lower levels of stress, and scores range from 18 to 90. We augmented the survey with demographic questions (e.g., age, gender, and race/ethnicity) at the beginning of the survey and two yes/no questions and one Likert scale question about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of our survey.

Participants for the study were self-reported college students between the ages of 18 and 30 years who resided in the United States, were fluent in English, and had Internet access. Participants were solicited through Prolific ( https://prolific.co ) in October 2021. A total of 1,023 individuals enrolled in the survey. Three individuals did not agree to participate after beginning the survey. Two were not fluent in English. Thirteen individuals indicated that they were not college students. Two were not in the 18–30 age range, and one was located outside of the United States. Of the remaining individuals, 906 were full-time students and 96 were part-time students. Given the skew of the data and potential differences in these populations, we removed the part-time students. Of the 906 full-time students, 58 indicated that they were in their fifth year of college or higher. We understand that not every student completes their undergraduate studies in 4 years, but we did not want to have a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students with no way to differentiate them. Finally, one individual reported their age as a non-number, and four individuals did not answer a question about their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This yielded a final sample of 843 college students.

Data Analyses

After reviewing the dataset, some variables were removed from consideration due to a lack of consistency (e.g., some students reported annual income for themselves and others reported family income) or heterogeneity that prevented easy categorization (e.g., field of study). We settled on four variables of interest: gender, race/ethnicity, year in school, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 1 ). Gender was coded as female, male, or non-binary. Race/ethnicity was coded as white or Caucasian; Black or African American; East Asian; Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin; or other. Other was used for groups that were not well-represented in the sample and included individuals who identified themselves as Middle Eastern, Native American or Alaskan Native, and South Asian, as well as individuals who chose “other” or “prefer not to answer” on the survey. The year of study was coded as one through four, and COVID-19 stress was coded as two groups, no change/neutral response/reduced stress or increased stress.

Characteristics of the participants in the study.

Our first goal was to determine whether there was a relationship between self-reported academic stress and mental health, and we found a significant correlation (see Results section). Given the positive correlation, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a model testing the main effects of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study was run in SPSS v 26.0. A factorial MANOVA would have been ideal, but our data were drawn from a convenience sample, which did not give equal representation to all groupings, and some combinations of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study were poorly represented (e.g., a single individual). As such, we determined that it would be better to have a lack of interaction terms as a limitation to the study than to provide potentially spurious results. Finally, we used chi-square analyses to assess the effect of potential differences in the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress levels in general among the groups in each category (gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study).

In terms of internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for the SMEMWBS and 0.86 for the PAS. A variety of descriptors have been applied to Cronbach's alpha values. That said, 0.7 is often considered a threshold value in terms of acceptable internal consistency, and our values could be considered “high” or “good” (Taber, 2018 ).

The participants in our study were primarily women (78.5% of respondents; Table 1 ). Participants were not equally distributed among races/ethnicities, with the majority of students selecting white or Caucasian (66.4% of responders; Table 1 ), or years of study, with fewer first-year students than other groups ( Table 1 ).

Students who reported higher academic stress also reported worse mental well-being in general, irrespective of age, gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study. PAS and SWEMWBS scores were significantly correlated ( r = 0.53, p < 0.001; Figure 1 ), indicating that a higher level of perceived academic stress is associated with worse mental well-being in college students within the United States.

SWEMWBS and PAS scores for all participants.

Among the subgroups of students, women, non-binary students, and second-year students reported higher academic stress levels and worse mental well-being ( Table 2 ; Figures 2 – 4 ). In addition, the combined measures differed significantly between the groups in each category ( Table 2 ). However, as measured by partial eta squared, the effect sizes were relatively small, given the convention of 0.01 = small, 0.06 = medium, and 0.14 = large differences (Lakens, 2013 ). As such, there were only two instances in which Tukey's post-hoc tests revealed more than one statistical grouping ( Figures 2 – 4 ). For SWEMWBS score by gender, women were intermediate between men (high) and non-binary individuals (low) and not significantly different from either group ( Figure 2 ). Second-year students had the lowest PAS scores for the year of study, and first-year students had the highest scores. Third- and fourth-year students were intermediate and not statistically different from the other two groups ( Figure 4 ). There were no pairwise differences in academic stress levels or mental well-being among racial/ethnic groups.

Results of the MANOVA.

SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to gender (mean ± SEM). Different letters for SWEMWBS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to year in college (mean ± SEM). Different letters for PAS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to race/ethnicity (mean ± SEM).

The findings varied among categories in terms of stress responses due to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 3 ). For gender, men were less likely than women or non-binary individuals to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 27.98, df = 2, p < 0.001). All racial/ethnic groups responded similarly to the pandemic (χ 2 = 3.41, df = 4, p < 0.49). For the year of study, first-year students were less likely than other cohorts to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 9.38, df = 3, p < 0.03).

Impact of COVID-19 on stress level by gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study.

Our primary findings showed a positive correlation between perceived academic stress and mental well-being in United States college students, suggesting that academic stressors, including academic expectations, workload and grading, and students' academic self-perceptions, are equally important as psychological well-being. Overall, irrespective of gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study, students who reported higher academic stress levels experienced diminished mental well-being. The utilization of well-established scales and a large sample size are strengths of this study. Our results extend and contribute to the existing literature on stress by confirming findings from past studies that reported higher academic stress and lower psychological well-being in college students utilizing the same two scales (Green et al., 2021 ; Syed, 2021 ). To our knowledge, the majority of other prior studies with similar findings examined different components of stress, studied negative mental health indicators, used different scales or methods, employed smaller sample sizes, or were conducted in different countries (Li and Lin, 2003 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ).

This study also demonstrated that college students are not uniformly impacted by academic stress or pandemic-related stress and that there are significant group-level differences in mental well-being. Specifically, non-binary individuals and second-year students were disproportionately impacted by academic stress. When considering the effects of gender, non-binary students, in comparison to gender-conforming students, reported the highest stress levels and worst psychological well-being. Although there is a paucity of research examining the impact of academic stress in non-binary college students, prior studies have indicated that non-binary adults face adverse mental health outcomes when compared to male and female-identifying individuals (Thorne et al., 2018 ; Jones et al., 2019 ; Budge et al., 2020 ). Alarmingly, Lipson et al. ( 2019 ) found that gender non-conforming college students were two to four times more likely to experience mental health struggles than cisgender students (Lipson et al., 2019 ). With a growing number of college students in the United States identifying as as non-binary, additional studies could offer invaluable insight into how academic stress affects this population (Budge et al., 2020 ).

In addition, we found that second-year students reported the most academic-related distress and lowest psychological well-being relative to students in other years of study. We surmise this may be due to this group taking advanced courses, managing heavier academic workloads, and exploring different majors. Other studies support our findings and suggest higher stress levels could be attributed to increased studying and difficulties with time management, as well as having less well-established social support networks and coping mechanisms compared to upperclassmen (Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Liu, X et al., 2019 ). Benefiting from their additional experience, upperclassmen may have developed more sophisticated studying skills, formed peer support groups, and identified approaches to better manage their academic stress (Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Our findings suggest that colleges should consider offering tailored mental health resources, such as time management and study skill workshops, based on the year of study to improve students' stress levels and psychological well-being (Liu, X et al., 2019 ).

Although this study reported no significant differences regarding race or ethnicity, this does not indicate that minority groups experienced less academic stress or better mental well-being (Lee et al., 2021 ). Instead, our results may reflect the low sample size of non-white races/ethnicities, which may not have given enough statistical power to corroborate. In addition, since coping and resilience are important mediators of subjective stress experiences (Freire et al., 2020 ), we speculate that the lower ratios of stress reported in non-white participants in our study (75 vs. 81) may be because they are more accustomed to adversity and thereby more resilient (Brown, 2008 ; Acheampong et al., 2019 ). Furthermore, ethnic minority students may face stigma when reporting mental health struggles (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, studies showed that Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students disclose fewer mental health issues than white students (Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Moreover, the ability to identify stressors and mental health problems may manifest differently culturally for some minority groups (Huang and Zane, 2016 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ). Contrary to our findings, other studies cited racial disparities in academic stress levels and mental well-being of students. More specifically, Negga et al. ( 2007 ) concluded that African American college students were more susceptible to higher academic stress levels than their white classmates (Negga et al., 2007 ). Another study reported that minority students experienced greater distress and worse mental health outcomes compared to non-minority students (Smith et al., 2014 ). Since there may be racial disparities in access to mental health services at the college level, universities, professors, and counselors should offer additional resources to support these students while closely monitoring their psychological well-being (Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

While the COVID-19 pandemic increased stress levels in all the students included in our study, women, non-binary students, and upperclassmen were disproportionately affected. An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the majority of college students experienced increased stress levels and worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic (Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). Our results also align with prior studies that found similar subgroups of students experience disproportionate pandemic-related distress (Gao et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Hunt et al., 2021 ; Jarrett et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Chen and Lucock, 2022 ). In particular, the differences between female students and their male peers may be the result of different psychological and physiological responses to stress reactivity, which in turn may contribute to different coping mechanisms to stress and the higher rates of stress-related disorders experienced by women (Misra et al., 2000 ; Kajantie and Phillips, 2006 ; Verma et al., 2011 ; Gao et al., 2020 ; Graves et al., 2021 ). COVID-19 was a secondary consideration in our study and survey design, so the conclusions drawn here are necessarily limited.

The implications of this study are that college students facing increased stress and struggling with mental health issues should receive personalized and specific mental health services, resources, and support. This is particularly true for groups that have been disproportionately impacted by academic stress and stress due to the pandemic. Many students who experience mental health struggles underutilize college services due to cost, stigma, or lack of information (Cage et al., 2020 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). To raise awareness and destigmatize mental health, colleges can consider distributing confidential validated assessments, such as the PAS and SWEMWBS, in class and teach students to self-score (Lee et al., 2021 ). These results can be used to understand how academic stress and mental well-being change over time and allow for specific and targeted interventions for vulnerable groups. In addition, teaching students healthy stress management techniques has been shown to improve psychological well-being (Alborzkouh et al., 2015 ). Moreover, adaptive coping strategies, including social and emotional support, have been found to improve the mental well-being of students, and stress-reduction peer support groups and workshops on campus could be beneficial in reducing stress and improving the self-efficacy of students (Ruthig et al., 2009 ; Baqutayan, 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Green et al., 2021 ; Suresh et al., 2021 ). Other interventions that have been effective in improving the coping skills of college students include cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation, and online coping tools (Kang et al., 2009 ; Regehr et al., 2013 ; Molla Jafar et al., 2015 ; Phang et al., 2015 ; Houston et al., 2017 ; Yusufov et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Given that resilience has also been shown to help mediate stress and improve mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, interventions focusing on enhancing resilience should be considered (Surzykiewicz et al., 2021 ; Skalski et al., 2022 ). Telemental health resources across colleges can also be implemented to reduce stigma and improve at-risk students' access to care (Toscos et al., 2018 ; Hadler et al., 2021 ). University campuses, professors, and counselors should consider focusing on fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment to encourage marginalized students to seek mental health support (Budge et al., 2020 ).

Limitations

While our study has numerous strengths, including using standardized instruments and a large sample size, this study also has several limitations due to both the methodology and sample. First, the correlational study design precludes making any causal relationships (Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Thereby, our findings should be taken in the context of academic stress and mental well-being, and recognize that mental health could be caused by other non-academic factors. Second, the PAS comprised only the perception of responses to academic stress, but stress is a multi-factorial response that encompasses both perceptions and coping mechanisms to different stressors, and the magnitude of stress varies with the perception of the degree of uncontrollability, unpredictability, or threat to self (Miller, 1981 ; Hobfoll and Walfisch, 1984 ; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Wheaton, 1985 ; Perrewé and Zellars, 1999 ; Schneiderman et al., 2005 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Schönfeld et al., 2016 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Third, the SWEMSBS used in our study and the data only measured positive mental health. Mental health pathways are numerous and complex, and are composed of distinct and interdependent negative and positive indicators that should be considered together (Margraf et al., 2020 ). Fourth, due to the small effect sizes and unequal representation for different combinations of variables, our analysis for both the PAS and SWEMSBS included only summed-up scales and did not examine group differences in response to the type of academic stressors or individual mental health questions.

An additional limitation is that the participants in our study were a convenience sample. The testing service we used, prolific.co, self-reports a sample bias toward young women of high levels of education (i.e., WEIRD bias) (Team Prolific, 2018 ). The skew toward this population was observed in our data, as 80% of our participants were women. While we controlled for these factors, the possibility remains that the conclusions we draw for certain groups, such as nonbinary students, ethnic/racial minorities, and men, may not be as statistically powerful as they should be. Moreover, our pre-screening was designed to recruit undergraduate level, English-speaking, 18–30-year-olds who resided in the United States. This resulted in our participant demographics being skewed toward the WEIRD bias that was already inherent in the testing service we used. Future research will aim to be more inclusive of diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, languages, educational backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and first-generation college students.

Another limitation of our study is the nature of satisficing. Satisficing is a response strategy in which a participant answers a question to satisfy its condition with little regard to the quality or accuracy of the answer (Roberts et al., 2019 ). Anonymous participants are more likely to satisfice than respondents who answer the question face-to-face (Krosnick et al., 2002 ). We sought to mitigate satisficing by offering financial incentives to increase response rates and decrease straight-lining, item skipping, total missing items, and non-completion (Cole et al., 2015 ). Concerns of poor data quality due to surveys offering financial incentives found little evidence to support that claim and may do the opposite (Cole et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, social desirability bias may have influenced the participant's self-reported responses, although our anonymous survey design aimed to reduce this bias (Joinson, 1999 ; Kecojevic et al., 2020 ).

Future Studies

Future studies should replicate our study to validate our results, conduct longitudinal cohort studies to examine well-being and perceived academic stress over time, and aim for a more representative student sample that includes various groups, including diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, languages, educational levels, and first-generation college students. Additionally, these studies should consider examining other non-academic stressors and students' coping mechanisms, both of which contribute to mental health and well-being (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Further explorations of negative and other positive indicators of mental health may offer a broader perspective (Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, future research should consider extending our work by exploring group differences in relation to each factor in the PAS (i.e., academic expectations, workload and examinations, and self-perception of students) and SWEMBS to determine which aspects of academic stress and mental health were most affected and allow for the devising of targeted stress-reduction approaches. Ultimately, we hope our research spurs readers into advocating for greater academic support and access to group-specific mental health resources to reduce the stress levels of college students and improve their mental well-being.

Utilizing two well-established scales, our research found a statistically significant correlation between the perceived academic stress of university students and their mental well-being (i.e., the higher the stress, the worse the well-being). This relationship was most apparent among gender and grade levels. More specifically, non-binary and second-year students experienced greater academic burden and lower psychological well-being. Moreover, women, non-binary students, and upper-level students were disproportionately impacted by stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies regarding broad concepts of stress and well-being using a questionnaire are limited, but our study adds value to the understanding of academic stress as a contributor to the overall well-being of college students during this specific point in time (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). Competition both for admission to college (Bound et al., 2009 ) and during college (Posselt and Lipson, 2016 ) has increased over time. Further, selective American colleges and universities draw applicants from a global pool. As such, it is important to document the dynamics of academic stress with renewed focus. We hope that our study sparks interest in both exploring and funding in-depth and well-designed psychological studies related to stress in colleges in the future.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Board at Rutgers University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

GB and MB contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, manuscript drafting, and revision. XZ participated in the conceptualization and design of the questionnaires. HB participated in subject recruitment and questionnaire collection. KP contributed to data analysis, table and figure preparation, manuscript drafting, and revision. XM contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, supervision of the project, manuscript drafting, and revision. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This study was made possible by a generous donation from the Knights of Columbus East Hanover Chapter in New Jersey.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Shivani Mehta and Varsha Garla for their assistance with the study. We also thank all the participants for their efforts in the completion of the study.

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Exploring the Link Between Academic Stress and Mental Health in College Students

College students have experienced unique challenges in adjusting to disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, such as displacement from the traditional university setting and the abrupt shift to remote learning. 1 Even before the pandemic, however, it was well-known that this population faces substantial stress related to the college experience, including the transition to independent living and changes in peer relationships. In addition, overwhelming academic demands represent a significant source of distress for many college students. 

In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology , Barbayannis et al examined the relationship between perceived levels of academic stress and mental well-being among 843 college students (78.5% women; 66.4% White) in the United States. 2 Scores on the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS) and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) were significantly correlated (r=0.53; P <.001) and showed an association between worse academic stress and poor mental well-being in all students surveyed.

Based on SWEMWBS scores, nonbinary students demonstrated the highest levels of academic stress and worst mental health across the sample, while men showed the lowest academic stress levels and highest mental well-being. PAS scores revealed higher levels of both academic stress and COVID-related stress among women and nonbinary students compared to men. 

Second-year college students demonstrated higher academic stress and worse psychological well-being compared to students in other years of study, which may be due in part to “this group taking advanced courses, managing heavier academic workloads, and exploring different majors,” the authors wrote.

According to study co-author Xue Ming, MD, PhD, professor of neurology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, the potential reasons for the observed impact of academic stress on college students’ mental health include “ranking systems, peer pressure, global competition in the job market, and parental and societal demands regarding grades,” among others. “Colleges are perceived by some as a competition stage and less of pure learning environment,” she said. 

These findings align with those from other recent research, including a 2022 study showing that academic stress was a significant predictor of anxiety (β=0.247, t=5.462; P <.001) among college students in China. 3 Other studies have demonstrated links between various sources of stress and the risk for mental health disorders in college students.

In 2020, results of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Initiative showed a significant dose-response relationship between the degree of perceived stress in each of 6 life areas (health, finances, family relationships, romantic relationships, work and school relationships, and problems experienced by loved ones) and higher 12-month odds of at least 1 of 6 mental health disorders (major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, bipolar disorder, drug use disorder, and alcohol use disorder) in first-year college students (n=20,842) from 24 universities in 9 countries. 4

Additionally, estimates of population attributable risk proportions indicated that targeted stress prevention interventions may eliminate up to 80% of the prevalence of the disorders observed in the study. 4

“Awareness is paramount in implementing help for these students,” Dr Xue said. “For those at higher risk, individualized counseling and stress reduction strategies are needed.” Helpful strategies may include peer support groups and training in mindfulness skills. 5

Results of another study published in 2022 suggest that resources aimed at improving time management and self-regulation skills may reduce academic stress in college students , and findings from a 2018 study support the utility of a social-emotional program to improve psychological well-being in this population. 1,6

We interviewed clinical psychologist Jenny C. Yip, PsyD, ABPP, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and founder of the Renewed Freedom Center for the treatment of anxiety disorders, to learn more about the effects of academic stress on the mental health of college students and how clinicians, schools, and parents can best support these individuals.

What are believed to be the reasons why academic stress has such as significant impact on college students’ mental health, as found by Barbayannis et al and other researchers?

Dr Yip: Being a student has never been more difficult because of the increased demand for kids to be the most perfect that they can be. Many parents have the expectation that their kids will strive for perfection or will perform perfectly, and that’s just not realistic. Kids know that it’s much more difficult today to get into a university than it’s ever been. There’s more demand and less supply, and therefore, the competition is very anxiety-provoking. On top of that, a lot of kids go into freshman year feeling unprepared to be independent, which has a lot to do with how we’re parenting our children. With helicopter parenting, we’re not giving our children the same opportunities they had in the past to solve their own problems, to find their own solutions. Therefore, they don’t feel capable of doing that on their own when they enter college.    Socially, our kids are also very underprepared to engage with others independently due to the dependence on digital devices to communicate.

What might be the reasons for the greater impact of this stress on nonbinary students and women in particular?

Dr Yip: We are living in a world today where everyone is adjusting to gender neutrality. Someone who is nonbinary will have a taller order of struggle to overcome. Women traditionally have had a glass ceiling. Research has demonstrated that teachers pay more attention to men than women. On top of that, young women who enter college also have the added concern of sexual harassment and assault on campus. For most female students, this is the first time they’re living in a co-ed environment without parental presence for more than just a week or 2 at summer camp. That presents new stressors for those who identify as women.

What are recommendations for mental health professionals to help reduce the impact of academic stress on the mental health of patients who are college students?

Dr Yip: As a mental health professional, I suggest helping the student adjust to independent living. Begin practicing assertive communication so that they can advocate for themselves and problem-solve for the challenges that will come up, whether it’s with their roommates, classmates, or professors. Too often kids today are not advocating for themselves. They’re responding passive-aggressively and avoiding uncomfortable situations. For mental health professionals, the number 1 priority is to help patients practice assertive communication skills to help them feel independent by having agency to speak up for themselves in a way that is conducive to problem solving.

What broader measures are needed to help minimize the effects of academic stress on college students?

Dr Yip: Number 1, parents and schools should start preparing college students for the demand and the transition to college before college even starts. I see a lot of high schools doing that now because of the high attrition rate of incoming freshmen. There are college campuses offering more mental health support than before, but we need to start much earlier than when a student becomes a freshman. Conversations need to be had even before a child starts elementary school. It’s a systemic adjustment.   Mental health adjustments need to be incorporated in colleges, especially with incoming freshmen. It should be mandatory that each incoming student meets with a mental health professional on a regular, consistent basis to evaluate their emotional adjustment. It’s often required for a new college student to meet with a college counselor to be sure they’re taking the coursework that is conducive to them. Why is that not being done with each student’s mental health?

 Jenny C. Yip, PsyD, ABPP is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and founder of the Renewed Freedom Center. Resource http://www.renewedfreedomcenter.com

References:

• von Keyserlingk L, Yamaguchi-Pedroza K, Arum R, Eccles JS. Stress of university students before and after campus closure in response to COVID-19 . J Community Psychol . 2022;50(1):285-301. doi:10.1002/jcop.22561
• Barbayannis G, Bandari M, Zheng X, Baquerizo H, Pecor KW, Ming X. Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: correlations, affected groups, and COVID-19 . Front Psychol . 2022;13:886344. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886344
• Yang Y, Yang P. Effect of college students’ academic stress on anxiety under the background of the normalization of COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating and moderating effects of psychological capital . Front Psychol . 2022;13:880179. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.880179
• Karyotaki E, Cuijpers P, Albor Y, et al. Sources of stress and their associations with mental disorders among college students: results of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Initiative . Front Psychol . 2020;11:1759. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01759
• Smit B, Stavrulaki E. The efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention for college students under extremely stressful conditions . 2021;12(12):3086-3100. doi:10.1007/s12671-021-01772-9
• Stocker SL, Gallagher KM. Alleviating anxiety and altering appraisals: social-emotional learning in the college classroom. College Teaching . 2019;67(1):23-35. doi:10.1080/87567555.2018.1515722

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — College Students — The Impact of Stress on College Students: Causes, Effects, and Management

The Impact of Stress on College Students: Causes, Effects, and Management

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Introduction, causes and effects of stress in college students, ways to manage stress.

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Student mental health is in crisis. Campuses are rethinking their approach

Amid massive increases in demand for care, psychologists are helping colleges and universities embrace a broader culture of well-being and better equipping faculty to support students in need

Vol. 53 No. 7 Print version: page 60

• Mental Health

By nearly every metric, student mental health is worsening. During the 2020–2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem, according to the Healthy Minds Study, which collects data from 373 campuses nationwide ( Lipson, S. K., et al., Journal of Affective Disorders , Vol. 306, 2022 ). In another national survey, almost three quarters of students reported moderate or severe psychological distress ( National College Health Assessment , American College Health Association, 2021).

Even before the pandemic, schools were facing a surge in demand for care that far outpaced capacity, and it has become increasingly clear that the traditional counseling center model is ill-equipped to solve the problem.

“Counseling centers have seen extraordinary increases in demand over the past decade,” said Michael Gerard Mason, PhD, associate dean of African American Affairs at the University of Virginia (UVA) and a longtime college counselor. “[At UVA], our counseling staff has almost tripled in size, but even if we continue hiring, I don’t think we could ever staff our way out of this challenge.”

Some of the reasons for that increase are positive. Compared with past generations, more students on campus today have accessed mental health treatment before college, suggesting that higher education is now an option for a larger segment of society, said Micky Sharma, PsyD, who directs student life’s counseling and consultation service at The Ohio State University (OSU). Stigma around mental health issues also continues to drop, leading more people to seek help instead of suffering in silence.

But college students today are also juggling a dizzying array of challenges, from coursework, relationships, and adjustment to campus life to economic strain, social injustice, mass violence, and various forms of loss related to Covid -19.

As a result, school leaders are starting to think outside the box about how to help. Institutions across the country are embracing approaches such as group therapy, peer counseling, and telehealth. They’re also better equipping faculty and staff to spot—and support—students in distress, and rethinking how to respond when a crisis occurs. And many schools are finding ways to incorporate a broader culture of wellness into their policies, systems, and day-to-day campus life.

“This increase in demand has challenged institutions to think holistically and take a multifaceted approach to supporting students,” said Kevin Shollenberger, the vice provost for student health and well-being at Johns Hopkins University. “It really has to be everyone’s responsibility at the university to create a culture of well-being.”

Higher caseloads, creative solutions

The number of students seeking help at campus counseling centers increased almost 40% between 2009 and 2015 and continued to rise until the pandemic began, according to data from Penn State University’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), a research-practice network of more than 700 college and university counseling centers ( CCMH Annual Report , 2015 ).

That rising demand hasn’t been matched by a corresponding rise in funding, which has led to higher caseloads. Nationwide, the average annual caseload for a typical full-time college counselor is about 120 students, with some centers averaging more than 300 students per counselor ( CCMH Annual Report , 2021 ).

“We find that high-caseload centers tend to provide less care to students experiencing a wide range of problems, including those with safety concerns and critical issues—such as suicidality and trauma—that are often prioritized by institutions,” said psychologist Brett Scofield, PhD, executive director of CCMH.

To minimize students slipping through the cracks, schools are dedicating more resources to rapid access and assessment, where students can walk in for a same-day intake or single counseling session, rather than languishing on a waitlist for weeks or months. Following an evaluation, many schools employ a stepped-care model, where the students who are most in need receive the most intensive care.

Given the wide range of concerns students are facing, experts say this approach makes more sense than offering traditional therapy to everyone.

“Early on, it was just about more, more, more clinicians,” said counseling psychologist Carla McCowan, PhD, director of the counseling center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “In the past few years, more centers are thinking creatively about how to meet the demand. Not every student needs individual therapy, but many need opportunities to increase their resilience, build new skills, and connect with one another.”

Students who are struggling with academic demands, for instance, may benefit from workshops on stress, sleep, time management, and goal-setting. Those who are mourning the loss of a typical college experience because of the pandemic—or facing adjustment issues such as loneliness, low self-esteem, or interpersonal conflict—are good candidates for peer counseling. Meanwhile, students with more acute concerns, including disordered eating, trauma following a sexual assault, or depression, can still access one-on-one sessions with professional counselors.

As they move away from a sole reliance on individual therapy, schools are also working to shift the narrative about what mental health care on campus looks like. Scofield said it’s crucial to manage expectations among students and their families, ideally shortly after (or even before) enrollment. For example, most counseling centers won’t be able to offer unlimited weekly sessions throughout a student’s college career—and those who require that level of support will likely be better served with a referral to a community provider.

“We really want to encourage institutions to be transparent about the services they can realistically provide based on the current staffing levels at a counseling center,” Scofield said.

The first line of defense

Faculty may be hired to teach, but schools are also starting to rely on them as “first responders” who can help identify students in distress, said psychologist Hideko Sera, PsyD, director of the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta. During the pandemic, that trend accelerated.

“Throughout the remote learning phase of the pandemic, faculty really became students’ main points of contact with the university,” said Bridgette Hard, PhD, an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. “It became more important than ever for faculty to be able to detect when a student might be struggling.”

Many felt ill-equipped to do so, though, with some wondering if it was even in their scope of practice to approach students about their mental health without specialized training, Mason said.

Schools are using several approaches to clarify expectations of faculty and give them tools to help. About 900 faculty and staff at the University of North Carolina have received training in Mental Health First Aid , which provides basic skills for supporting people with mental health and substance use issues. Other institutions are offering workshops and materials that teach faculty to “recognize, respond, and refer,” including Penn State’s Red Folder campaign .

Faculty are taught that a sudden change in behavior—including a drop in attendance, failure to submit assignments, or a disheveled appearance—may indicate that a student is struggling. Staff across campus, including athletic coaches and academic advisers, can also monitor students for signs of distress. (At Penn State, eating disorder referrals can even come from staff working in food service, said counseling psychologist Natalie Hernandez DePalma, PhD, senior director of the school’s counseling and psychological services.) Responding can be as simple as reaching out and asking if everything is going OK.

Referral options vary but may include directing a student to a wellness seminar or calling the counseling center to make an appointment, which can help students access services that they may be less likely to seek on their own, Hernandez DePalma said. Many schools also offer reporting systems, such as DukeReach at Duke University , that allow anyone on campus to express concern about a student if they are unsure how to respond. Trained care providers can then follow up with a welfare check or offer other forms of support.

“Faculty aren’t expected to be counselors, just to show a sense of care that they notice something might be going on, and to know where to refer students,” Shollenberger said.

At Johns Hopkins, he and his team have also worked with faculty on ways to discuss difficult world events during class after hearing from students that it felt jarring when major incidents such as George Floyd’s murder or the war in Ukraine went unacknowledged during class.

Many schools also support faculty by embedding counselors within academic units, where they are more visible to students and can develop cultural expertise (the needs of students studying engineering may differ somewhat from those in fine arts, for instance).

When it comes to course policy, even small changes can make a big difference for students, said Diana Brecher, PhD, a clinical psychologist and scholar-in-residence for positive psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), formerly Ryerson University. For example, instructors might allow students a 7-day window to submit assignments, giving them agency to coordinate with other coursework and obligations. Setting deadlines in the late afternoon or early evening, as opposed to at midnight, can also help promote student wellness.

At Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) near Chicago, Shelita Shaw, an assistant professor of communications, devised new class policies and assignments when she noticed students struggling with mental health and motivation. Those included mental health days, mindful journaling, and a trip with family and friends to a Chicago landmark, such as Millennium Park or Navy Pier—where many MVCC students had never been.

Faculty in the psychology department may have a unique opportunity to leverage insights from their own discipline to improve student well-being. Hard, who teaches introductory psychology at Duke, weaves in messages about how students can apply research insights on emotion regulation, learning and memory, and a positive “stress mindset” to their lives ( Crum, A. J., et al., Anxiety, Stress, & Coping , Vol. 30, No. 4, 2017 ).

Along with her colleague Deena Kara Shaffer, PhD, Brecher cocreated TMU’s Thriving in Action curriculum, which is delivered through a 10-week in-person workshop series and via a for-credit elective course. The material is also freely available for students to explore online . The for-credit course includes lectures on gratitude, attention, healthy habits, and other topics informed by psychological research that are intended to set students up for success in studying, relationships, and campus life.

“We try to embed a healthy approach to studying in the way we teach the class,” Brecher said. “For example, we shift activities every 20 minutes or so to help students sustain attention and stamina throughout the lesson.”

Creative approaches to support

Given the crucial role of social connection in maintaining and restoring mental health, many schools have invested in group therapy. Groups can help students work through challenges such as social anxiety, eating disorders, sexual assault, racial trauma, grief and loss, chronic illness, and more—with the support of professional counselors and peers. Some cater to specific populations, including those who tend to engage less with traditional counseling services. At Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), for example, the “Bold Eagles” support group welcomes men who are exploring their emotions and gender roles.

The widespread popularity of group therapy highlights the decrease in stigma around mental health services on college campuses, said Jon Brunner, PhD, the senior director of counseling and wellness services at FGCU. At smaller schools, creating peer support groups that feel anonymous may be more challenging, but providing clear guidelines about group participation, including confidentiality, can help put students at ease, Brunner said.

Less formal groups, sometimes called “counselor chats,” meet in public spaces around campus and can be especially helpful for reaching underserved groups—such as international students, first-generation college students, and students of color—who may be less likely to seek services at a counseling center. At Johns Hopkins, a thriving international student support group holds weekly meetings in a café next to the library. Counselors typically facilitate such meetings, often through partnerships with campus centers or groups that support specific populations, such as LGBTQ students or student athletes.

“It’s important for students to see counselors out and about, engaging with the campus community,” McCowan said. “Otherwise, you’re only seeing the students who are comfortable coming in the door.”

Peer counseling is another means of leveraging social connectedness to help students stay well. At UVA, Mason and his colleagues found that about 75% of students reached out to a peer first when they were in distress, while only about 11% contacted faculty, staff, or administrators.

“What we started to understand was that in many ways, the people who had the least capacity to provide a professional level of help were the ones most likely to provide it,” he said.

Project Rise , a peer counseling service created by and for Black students at UVA, was one antidote to this. Mason also helped launch a two-part course, “Hoos Helping Hoos,” (a nod to UVA’s unofficial nickname, the Wahoos) to train students across the university on empathy, mentoring, and active listening skills.

At Washington University in St. Louis, Uncle Joe’s Peer Counseling and Resource Center offers confidential one-on-one sessions, in person and over the phone, to help fellow students manage anxiety, depression, academic stress, and other campus-life issues. Their peer counselors each receive more than 100 hours of training, including everything from basic counseling skills to handling suicidality.

Uncle Joe’s codirectors, Colleen Avila and Ruchika Kamojjala, say the service is popular because it’s run by students and doesn’t require a long-term investment the way traditional psychotherapy does.

“We can form a connection, but it doesn’t have to feel like a commitment,” said Avila, a senior studying studio art and philosophy-neuroscience-psychology. “It’s completely anonymous, one time per issue, and it’s there whenever you feel like you need it.”

As part of the shift toward rapid access, many schools also offer “Let’s Talk” programs , which allow students to drop in for an informal one-on-one session with a counselor. Some also contract with telehealth platforms, such as WellTrack and SilverCloud, to ensure that services are available whenever students need them. A range of additional resources—including sleep seminars, stress management workshops, wellness coaching, and free subscriptions to Calm, Headspace, and other apps—are also becoming increasingly available to students.

Those approaches can address many student concerns, but institutions also need to be prepared to aid students during a mental health crisis, and some are rethinking how best to do so. Penn State offers a crisis line, available anytime, staffed with counselors ready to talk or deploy on an active rescue. Johns Hopkins is piloting a behavioral health crisis support program, similar to one used by the New York City Police Department, that dispatches trained crisis clinicians alongside public safety officers to conduct wellness checks.

A culture of wellness

With mental health resources no longer confined to the counseling center, schools need a way to connect students to a range of available services. At OSU, Sharma was part of a group of students, staff, and administrators who visited Apple Park in Cupertino, California, to develop the Ohio State: Wellness App .

Students can use the app to create their own “wellness plan” and access timely content, such as advice for managing stress during final exams. They can also connect with friends to share articles and set goals—for instance, challenging a friend to attend two yoga classes every week for a month. OSU’s apps had more than 240,000 users last year.

At Johns Hopkins, administrators are exploring how to adapt school policies and procedures to better support student wellness, Shollenberger said. For example, they adapted their leave policy—including how refunds, grades, and health insurance are handled—so that students can take time off with fewer barriers. The university also launched an educational campaign this fall to help international students navigate student health insurance plans after noticing below average use by that group.

Students are a key part of the effort to improve mental health care, including at the systemic level. At Morehouse College, Sera serves as the adviser for Chill , a student-led advocacy and allyship organization that includes members from Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, two other HBCUs in the area. The group, which received training on federal advocacy from APA’s Advocacy Office earlier this year, aims to lobby public officials—including U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Morehouse College alumnus—to increase mental health resources for students of color.

“This work is very aligned with the spirit of HBCUs, which are often the ones raising voices at the national level to advocate for the betterment of Black and Brown communities,” Sera said.

Despite the creative approaches that students, faculty, staff, and administrators are employing, students continue to struggle, and most of those doing this work agree that more support is still urgently needed.

“The work we do is important, but it can also be exhausting,” said Kamojjala, of Uncle Joe’s peer counseling, which operates on a volunteer basis. “Students just need more support, and this work won’t be sustainable in the long run if that doesn’t arrive.”

Further reading

Overwhelmed: The real campus mental-health crisis and new models for well-being The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2022

Mental health in college populations: A multidisciplinary review of what works, evidence gaps, and paths forward Abelson, S., et al., Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 2022

Student mental health status report: Struggles, stressors, supports Ezarik, M., Inside Higher Ed, 2022

Before heading to college, make a mental health checklist Caron, C., The New York Times, 2022

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• Stress effects on the body

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: correlations, affected groups, and covid-19.

• 1 Department of Neurology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 2 Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 3 Office for Diversity and Community Engagement, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, United States
• 4 Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, United States

Academic stress may be the single most dominant stress factor that affects the mental well-being of college students. Some groups of students may experience more stress than others, and the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic could further complicate the stress response. We surveyed 843 college students and evaluated whether academic stress levels affected their mental health, and if so, whether there were specific vulnerable groups by gender, race/ethnicity, year of study, and reaction to the pandemic. Using a combination of scores from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS) and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), we found a significant correlation between worse academic stress and poor mental well-being in all the students, who also reported an exacerbation of stress in response to the pandemic. In addition, SWEMWBS scores revealed the lowest mental health and highest academic stress in non-binary individuals, and the opposite trend was observed for both the measures in men. Furthermore, women and non-binary students reported higher academic stress than men, as indicated by PAS scores. The same pattern held as a reaction to COVID-19-related stress. PAS scores and responses to the pandemic varied by the year of study, but no obvious patterns emerged. These results indicate that academic stress in college is significantly correlated to psychological well-being in the students who responded to this survey. In addition, some groups of college students are more affected by stress than others, and additional resources and support should be provided to them.

Introduction

Late adolescence and emerging adulthood are transitional periods marked by major physiological and psychological changes, including elevated stress ( Hogan and Astone, 1986 ; Arnett, 2000 ; Shanahan, 2000 ; Spear, 2000 ; Scales et al., 2015 ; Romeo et al., 2016 ; Barbayannis et al., 2017 ; Chiang et al., 2019 ; Lally and Valentine-French, 2019 ; Matud et al., 2020 ). This pattern is particularly true for college students. According to a 2015 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment survey, three in four college students self-reported feeling stressed, while one in five college students reported stress-related suicidal ideation ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ). Studies show that a stressor experienced in college may serve as a predictor of mental health diagnoses ( Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Indeed, many mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorder, begin during this period ( Blanco et al., 2008 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Saleh et al., 2017 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

Stress experienced by college students is multi-factorial and can be attributed to a variety of contributing factors ( Reddy et al., 2018 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). A growing body of evidence suggests that academic-related stress plays a significant role in college ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Dusselier et al., 2005 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Hj Ramli et al., 2018 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ). For instance, as many as 87% of college students surveyed across the United States cited education as their primary source of stress ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ). College students are exposed to novel academic stressors, such as an extensive academic course load, substantial studying, time management, classroom competition, financial concerns, familial pressures, and adapting to a new environment ( Misra and Castillo, 2004 ; Byrd and McKinney, 2012 ; Ekpenyong et al., 2013 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ketchen Lipson et al., 2015 ; Pedrelli et al., 2015 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Academic stress can reduce motivation, hinder academic achievement, and lead to increased college dropout rates ( Pascoe et al., 2020 ).

Academic stress has also been shown to negatively impact mental health in students ( Li and Lin, 2003 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Mental, or psychological, well-being is one of the components of positive mental health, and it includes happiness, life satisfaction, stress management, and psychological functioning ( Ryan and Deci, 2001 ; Tennant et al., 2007 ; Galderisi et al., 2015 ; Trout and Alsandor, 2020 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ; Green et al., 2021 ). Positive mental health is an understudied but important area that helps paint a more comprehensive picture of overall mental health ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, positive mental health has been shown to be predictive of both negative and positive mental health indicators over time ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Further exploring the relationship between academic stress and mental well-being is important because poor mental well-being has been shown to affect academic performance in college ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Eisenberg et al., 2009 ; Freire et al., 2016 ).

Perception of academic stress varies among different groups of college students ( Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, female college students report experiencing increased stress than their male counterparts ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Eisenberg et al., 2007 ; Evans et al., 2018 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Male and female students also respond differently to stressors ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Verma et al., 2011 ). Moreover, compared to their cisgender peers, non-binary students report increased stressors and mental health issues ( Budge et al., 2020 ). The academic year of study of the college students has also been shown to impact academic stress levels ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Elias et al., 2011 ; Wyatt et al., 2017 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Defeyter et al., 2021 ). While several studies indicate that racial/ethnic minority groups of students, including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students, are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and suicidality than their white peers ( Lesure-Lester and King, 2004 ; Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ), these studies are limited and often report mixed or inconclusive findings ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Therefore, more studies should be conducted to address this gap in research to help identify subgroups that may be disproportionately impacted by academic stress and lower well-being.

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major stressor that has led to a mental health crisis ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Dong and Bouey, 2020 ). For college students, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes and disruptions to daily life, elevated stress levels, and mental and physical health deterioration ( American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). While any college student is vulnerable to these stressors, these concerns are amplified for members of minority groups ( Salerno et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; McQuaid et al., 2021 ; Prowse et al., 2021 ; Kodish et al., 2022 ). Identifying students at greatest risk provides opportunities to offer support, resources, and mental health services to specific subgroups.

The overall aim of this study was to assess academic stress and mental well-being in a sample of college students. Within this umbrella, we had several goals. First, to determine whether a relationship exists between the two constructs of perceived academic stress, measured by the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PAS), and mental well-being, measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), in college students. Second, to identify groups that could experience differential levels of academic stress and mental health. Third, to explore how the perception of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affected stress levels. We hypothesized that students who experienced more academic stress would have worse psychological well-being and that certain groups of students would be more impacted by academic- and COVID-19-related stress.

Materials and Methods

Survey instrument.

A survey was developed that included all questions from the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Stewart-Brown and Janmohamed, 2008 ) and from the Perception of Academic Stress Scale ( Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale is a seven-item scale designed to measure mental well-being and positive mental health ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Fung, 2019 ; Shah et al., 2021 ). The Perception of Academic Stress Scale is an 18-item scale designed to assess sources of academic stress perceived by individuals and measures three main academic stressors: academic expectations, workload and examinations, and academic self-perceptions of students ( Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ). These shorter scales were chosen to increase our response and study completion rates ( Kost and de Rosa, 2018 ). Both tools have been shown to be valid and reliable in college students with Likert scale responses ( Tennant et al., 2007 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Ringdal et al., 2018 ; Fung, 2019 ; Koushede et al., 2019 ). Both the SWEMWBS and PAS scores are a summation of responses to the individual questions in the instruments. For the SWEMWBS questions, a higher score indicates better mental health, and scores range from 7 to 35. Similarly, the PAS questions are phrased such that a higher score indicates lower levels of stress, and scores range from 18 to 90. We augmented the survey with demographic questions (e.g., age, gender, and race/ethnicity) at the beginning of the survey and two yes/no questions and one Likert scale question about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of our survey.

Participants for the study were self-reported college students between the ages of 18 and 30 years who resided in the United States, were fluent in English, and had Internet access. Participants were solicited through Prolific ( https://prolific.co ) in October 2021. A total of 1,023 individuals enrolled in the survey. Three individuals did not agree to participate after beginning the survey. Two were not fluent in English. Thirteen individuals indicated that they were not college students. Two were not in the 18–30 age range, and one was located outside of the United States. Of the remaining individuals, 906 were full-time students and 96 were part-time students. Given the skew of the data and potential differences in these populations, we removed the part-time students. Of the 906 full-time students, 58 indicated that they were in their fifth year of college or higher. We understand that not every student completes their undergraduate studies in 4 years, but we did not want to have a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students with no way to differentiate them. Finally, one individual reported their age as a non-number, and four individuals did not answer a question about their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This yielded a final sample of 843 college students.

Data Analyses

After reviewing the dataset, some variables were removed from consideration due to a lack of consistency (e.g., some students reported annual income for themselves and others reported family income) or heterogeneity that prevented easy categorization (e.g., field of study). We settled on four variables of interest: gender, race/ethnicity, year in school, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 1 ). Gender was coded as female, male, or non-binary. Race/ethnicity was coded as white or Caucasian; Black or African American; East Asian; Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin; or other. Other was used for groups that were not well-represented in the sample and included individuals who identified themselves as Middle Eastern, Native American or Alaskan Native, and South Asian, as well as individuals who chose “other” or “prefer not to answer” on the survey. The year of study was coded as one through four, and COVID-19 stress was coded as two groups, no change/neutral response/reduced stress or increased stress.

Table 1 . Characteristics of the participants in the study.

Our first goal was to determine whether there was a relationship between self-reported academic stress and mental health, and we found a significant correlation (see Results section). Given the positive correlation, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a model testing the main effects of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study was run in SPSS v 26.0. A factorial MANOVA would have been ideal, but our data were drawn from a convenience sample, which did not give equal representation to all groupings, and some combinations of gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study were poorly represented (e.g., a single individual). As such, we determined that it would be better to have a lack of interaction terms as a limitation to the study than to provide potentially spurious results. Finally, we used chi-square analyses to assess the effect of potential differences in the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress levels in general among the groups in each category (gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study).

In terms of internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 for the SMEMWBS and 0.86 for the PAS. A variety of descriptors have been applied to Cronbach's alpha values. That said, 0.7 is often considered a threshold value in terms of acceptable internal consistency, and our values could be considered “high” or “good” ( Taber, 2018 ).

The participants in our study were primarily women (78.5% of respondents; Table 1 ). Participants were not equally distributed among races/ethnicities, with the majority of students selecting white or Caucasian (66.4% of responders; Table 1 ), or years of study, with fewer first-year students than other groups ( Table 1 ).

Students who reported higher academic stress also reported worse mental well-being in general, irrespective of age, gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study. PAS and SWEMWBS scores were significantly correlated ( r = 0.53, p < 0.001; Figure 1 ), indicating that a higher level of perceived academic stress is associated with worse mental well-being in college students within the United States.

Figure 1 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores for all participants.

Among the subgroups of students, women, non-binary students, and second-year students reported higher academic stress levels and worse mental well-being ( Table 2 ; Figures 2 – 4 ). In addition, the combined measures differed significantly between the groups in each category ( Table 2 ). However, as measured by partial eta squared, the effect sizes were relatively small, given the convention of 0.01 = small, 0.06 = medium, and 0.14 = large differences ( Lakens, 2013 ). As such, there were only two instances in which Tukey's post-hoc tests revealed more than one statistical grouping ( Figures 2 – 4 ). For SWEMWBS score by gender, women were intermediate between men (high) and non-binary individuals (low) and not significantly different from either group ( Figure 2 ). Second-year students had the lowest PAS scores for the year of study, and first-year students had the highest scores. Third- and fourth-year students were intermediate and not statistically different from the other two groups ( Figure 4 ). There were no pairwise differences in academic stress levels or mental well-being among racial/ethnic groups.

Table 2 . Results of the MANOVA.

Figure 2 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to gender (mean ± SEM). Different letters for SWEMWBS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

Figure 3 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to race/ethnicity (mean ± SEM).

Figure 4 . SWEMWBS and PAS scores according to year in college (mean ± SEM). Different letters for PAS scores indicate different statistical groupings ( p < 0.05).

The findings varied among categories in terms of stress responses due to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Table 3 ). For gender, men were less likely than women or non-binary individuals to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 27.98, df = 2, p < 0.001). All racial/ethnic groups responded similarly to the pandemic (χ 2 = 3.41, df = 4, p < 0.49). For the year of study, first-year students were less likely than other cohorts to report increased stress from COVID-19 (χ 2 = 9.38, df = 3, p < 0.03).

Table 3 . Impact of COVID-19 on stress level by gender, race/ethnicity, and year of study.

Our primary findings showed a positive correlation between perceived academic stress and mental well-being in United States college students, suggesting that academic stressors, including academic expectations, workload and grading, and students' academic self-perceptions, are equally important as psychological well-being. Overall, irrespective of gender, race/ethnicity, or year of study, students who reported higher academic stress levels experienced diminished mental well-being. The utilization of well-established scales and a large sample size are strengths of this study. Our results extend and contribute to the existing literature on stress by confirming findings from past studies that reported higher academic stress and lower psychological well-being in college students utilizing the same two scales ( Green et al., 2021 ; Syed, 2021 ). To our knowledge, the majority of other prior studies with similar findings examined different components of stress, studied negative mental health indicators, used different scales or methods, employed smaller sample sizes, or were conducted in different countries ( Li and Lin, 2003 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Pascoe et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Lopes and Nihei, 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ).

This study also demonstrated that college students are not uniformly impacted by academic stress or pandemic-related stress and that there are significant group-level differences in mental well-being. Specifically, non-binary individuals and second-year students were disproportionately impacted by academic stress. When considering the effects of gender, non-binary students, in comparison to gender-conforming students, reported the highest stress levels and worst psychological well-being. Although there is a paucity of research examining the impact of academic stress in non-binary college students, prior studies have indicated that non-binary adults face adverse mental health outcomes when compared to male and female-identifying individuals ( Thorne et al., 2018 ; Jones et al., 2019 ; Budge et al., 2020 ). Alarmingly, Lipson et al. (2019) found that gender non-conforming college students were two to four times more likely to experience mental health struggles than cisgender students ( Lipson et al., 2019 ). With a growing number of college students in the United States identifying as as non-binary, additional studies could offer invaluable insight into how academic stress affects this population ( Budge et al., 2020 ).

In addition, we found that second-year students reported the most academic-related distress and lowest psychological well-being relative to students in other years of study. We surmise this may be due to this group taking advanced courses, managing heavier academic workloads, and exploring different majors. Other studies support our findings and suggest higher stress levels could be attributed to increased studying and difficulties with time management, as well as having less well-established social support networks and coping mechanisms compared to upperclassmen ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ; Liu, X et al., 2019 ). Benefiting from their additional experience, upperclassmen may have developed more sophisticated studying skills, formed peer support groups, and identified approaches to better manage their academic stress ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Our findings suggest that colleges should consider offering tailored mental health resources, such as time management and study skill workshops, based on the year of study to improve students' stress levels and psychological well-being ( Liu, X et al., 2019 ).

Although this study reported no significant differences regarding race or ethnicity, this does not indicate that minority groups experienced less academic stress or better mental well-being ( Lee et al., 2021 ). Instead, our results may reflect the low sample size of non-white races/ethnicities, which may not have given enough statistical power to corroborate. In addition, since coping and resilience are important mediators of subjective stress experiences ( Freire et al., 2020 ), we speculate that the lower ratios of stress reported in non-white participants in our study (75 vs. 81) may be because they are more accustomed to adversity and thereby more resilient ( Brown, 2008 ; Acheampong et al., 2019 ). Furthermore, ethnic minority students may face stigma when reporting mental health struggles ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). For instance, studies showed that Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American students disclose fewer mental health issues than white students ( Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). Moreover, the ability to identify stressors and mental health problems may manifest differently culturally for some minority groups ( Huang and Zane, 2016 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ). Contrary to our findings, other studies cited racial disparities in academic stress levels and mental well-being of students. More specifically, Negga et al. (2007) concluded that African American college students were more susceptible to higher academic stress levels than their white classmates ( Negga et al., 2007 ). Another study reported that minority students experienced greater distress and worse mental health outcomes compared to non-minority students ( Smith et al., 2014 ). Since there may be racial disparities in access to mental health services at the college level, universities, professors, and counselors should offer additional resources to support these students while closely monitoring their psychological well-being ( Lipson et al., 2018 ; Liu, C. H., et al., 2019 ).

While the COVID-19 pandemic increased stress levels in all the students included in our study, women, non-binary students, and upperclassmen were disproportionately affected. An overwhelming body of evidence suggests that the majority of college students experienced increased stress levels and worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic ( Allen and Hiebert, 1991 ; American Psychological Association, 2020 ; Husky et al., 2020 ; Patsali et al., 2020 ; Son et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). Our results also align with prior studies that found similar subgroups of students experience disproportionate pandemic-related distress ( Gao et al., 2020 ; Clabaugh et al., 2021 ; Hunt et al., 2021 ; Jarrett et al., 2021 ; Lee et al., 2021 ; Chen and Lucock, 2022 ). In particular, the differences between female students and their male peers may be the result of different psychological and physiological responses to stress reactivity, which in turn may contribute to different coping mechanisms to stress and the higher rates of stress-related disorders experienced by women ( Misra et al., 2000 ; Kajantie and Phillips, 2006 ; Verma et al., 2011 ; Gao et al., 2020 ; Graves et al., 2021 ). COVID-19 was a secondary consideration in our study and survey design, so the conclusions drawn here are necessarily limited.

The implications of this study are that college students facing increased stress and struggling with mental health issues should receive personalized and specific mental health services, resources, and support. This is particularly true for groups that have been disproportionately impacted by academic stress and stress due to the pandemic. Many students who experience mental health struggles underutilize college services due to cost, stigma, or lack of information ( Cage et al., 2020 ; Lee et al., 2021 ). To raise awareness and destigmatize mental health, colleges can consider distributing confidential validated assessments, such as the PAS and SWEMWBS, in class and teach students to self-score ( Lee et al., 2021 ). These results can be used to understand how academic stress and mental well-being change over time and allow for specific and targeted interventions for vulnerable groups. In addition, teaching students healthy stress management techniques has been shown to improve psychological well-being ( Alborzkouh et al., 2015 ). Moreover, adaptive coping strategies, including social and emotional support, have been found to improve the mental well-being of students, and stress-reduction peer support groups and workshops on campus could be beneficial in reducing stress and improving the self-efficacy of students ( Ruthig et al., 2009 ; Baqutayan, 2011 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Green et al., 2021 ; Suresh et al., 2021 ). Other interventions that have been effective in improving the coping skills of college students include cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation, and online coping tools ( Kang et al., 2009 ; Regehr et al., 2013 ; Molla Jafar et al., 2015 ; Phang et al., 2015 ; Houston et al., 2017 ; Yusufov et al., 2019 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Given that resilience has also been shown to help mediate stress and improve mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, interventions focusing on enhancing resilience should be considered ( Surzykiewicz et al., 2021 ; Skalski et al., 2022 ). Telemental health resources across colleges can also be implemented to reduce stigma and improve at-risk students' access to care ( Toscos et al., 2018 ; Hadler et al., 2021 ). University campuses, professors, and counselors should consider focusing on fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment to encourage marginalized students to seek mental health support ( Budge et al., 2020 ).

Limitations

While our study has numerous strengths, including using standardized instruments and a large sample size, this study also has several limitations due to both the methodology and sample. First, the correlational study design precludes making any causal relationships ( Misra and McKean, 2000 ). Thereby, our findings should be taken in the context of academic stress and mental well-being, and recognize that mental health could be caused by other non-academic factors. Second, the PAS comprised only the perception of responses to academic stress, but stress is a multi-factorial response that encompasses both perceptions and coping mechanisms to different stressors, and the magnitude of stress varies with the perception of the degree of uncontrollability, unpredictability, or threat to self ( Miller, 1981 ; Hobfoll and Walfisch, 1984 ; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Wheaton, 1985 ; Perrewé and Zellars, 1999 ; Schneiderman et al., 2005 ; Bedewy and Gabriel, 2015 ; Schönfeld et al., 2016 ; Reddy et al., 2018 ; Freire et al., 2020 ; Karyotaki et al., 2020 ). Third, the SWEMSBS used in our study and the data only measured positive mental health. Mental health pathways are numerous and complex, and are composed of distinct and interdependent negative and positive indicators that should be considered together ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Fourth, due to the small effect sizes and unequal representation for different combinations of variables, our analysis for both the PAS and SWEMSBS included only summed-up scales and did not examine group differences in response to the type of academic stressors or individual mental health questions.

An additional limitation is that the participants in our study were a convenience sample. The testing service we used, prolific.co, self-reports a sample bias toward young women of high levels of education (i.e., WEIRD bias) ( Team Prolific, 2018 ). The skew toward this population was observed in our data, as 80% of our participants were women. While we controlled for these factors, the possibility remains that the conclusions we draw for certain groups, such as nonbinary students, ethnic/racial minorities, and men, may not be as statistically powerful as they should be. Moreover, our pre-screening was designed to recruit undergraduate level, English-speaking, 18–30-year-olds who resided in the United States. This resulted in our participant demographics being skewed toward the WEIRD bias that was already inherent in the testing service we used. Future research will aim to be more inclusive of diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, languages, educational backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and first-generation college students.

Another limitation of our study is the nature of satisficing. Satisficing is a response strategy in which a participant answers a question to satisfy its condition with little regard to the quality or accuracy of the answer ( Roberts et al., 2019 ). Anonymous participants are more likely to satisfice than respondents who answer the question face-to-face ( Krosnick et al., 2002 ). We sought to mitigate satisficing by offering financial incentives to increase response rates and decrease straight-lining, item skipping, total missing items, and non-completion ( Cole et al., 2015 ). Concerns of poor data quality due to surveys offering financial incentives found little evidence to support that claim and may do the opposite ( Cole et al., 2015 ). On the other hand, social desirability bias may have influenced the participant's self-reported responses, although our anonymous survey design aimed to reduce this bias ( Joinson, 1999 ; Kecojevic et al., 2020 ).

Future Studies

Future studies should replicate our study to validate our results, conduct longitudinal cohort studies to examine well-being and perceived academic stress over time, and aim for a more representative student sample that includes various groups, including diverse races/ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, languages, educational levels, and first-generation college students. Additionally, these studies should consider examining other non-academic stressors and students' coping mechanisms, both of which contribute to mental health and well-being ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Freire et al., 2020 ). Further explorations of negative and other positive indicators of mental health may offer a broader perspective ( Margraf et al., 2020 ). Moreover, future research should consider extending our work by exploring group differences in relation to each factor in the PAS (i.e., academic expectations, workload and examinations, and self-perception of students) and SWEMBS to determine which aspects of academic stress and mental health were most affected and allow for the devising of targeted stress-reduction approaches. Ultimately, we hope our research spurs readers into advocating for greater academic support and access to group-specific mental health resources to reduce the stress levels of college students and improve their mental well-being.

Utilizing two well-established scales, our research found a statistically significant correlation between the perceived academic stress of university students and their mental well-being (i.e., the higher the stress, the worse the well-being). This relationship was most apparent among gender and grade levels. More specifically, non-binary and second-year students experienced greater academic burden and lower psychological well-being. Moreover, women, non-binary students, and upper-level students were disproportionately impacted by stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies regarding broad concepts of stress and well-being using a questionnaire are limited, but our study adds value to the understanding of academic stress as a contributor to the overall well-being of college students during this specific point in time (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). Competition both for admission to college ( Bound et al., 2009 ) and during college ( Posselt and Lipson, 2016 ) has increased over time. Further, selective American colleges and universities draw applicants from a global pool. As such, it is important to document the dynamics of academic stress with renewed focus. We hope that our study sparks interest in both exploring and funding in-depth and well-designed psychological studies related to stress in colleges in the future.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Board at Rutgers University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

GB and MB contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, manuscript drafting, and revision. XZ participated in the conceptualization and design of the questionnaires. HB participated in subject recruitment and questionnaire collection. KP contributed to data analysis, table and figure preparation, manuscript drafting, and revision. XM contributed to conceptualization, study design, IRB application, supervision of the project, manuscript drafting, and revision. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This study was made possible by a generous donation from the Knights of Columbus East Hanover Chapter in New Jersey.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Shivani Mehta and Varsha Garla for their assistance with the study. We also thank all the participants for their efforts in the completion of the study.

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Keywords: academic stress, well-being, college students, Perception of Academic Stress, Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, COVID-19

Citation: Barbayannis G, Bandari M, Zheng X, Baquerizo H, Pecor KW and Ming X (2022) Academic Stress and Mental Well-Being in College Students: Correlations, Affected Groups, and COVID-19. Front. Psychol. 13:886344. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.886344

Received: 28 February 2022; Accepted: 20 April 2022; Published: 23 May 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Barbayannis, Bandari, Zheng, Baquerizo, Pecor and Ming. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Keith W. Pecor, pecor@tcnj.edu

† These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

College students’ stress levels are ‘bubbling over.’ Here’s why, and how schools can help

John Yang John Yang

Claire Mufson Claire Mufson

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College is a time of major transition and of stress. During the pandemic, students have been struggling to cope with ever-increasing levels of mental distress among students. A recent study by The American College Health Association found that one in four students had considered suicide. John Yang looks at the problem and solutions, on and off campus, for NewsHour's “Rethinking College” series.

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Judy Woodruff:

College is a time of major transition and of stress. Add in the pandemic, and colleges are left struggling to cope with ever-increasing levels of mental distress among students.

John Yang looks at the problem and what can done on and off campus for our series Rethinking College.

Judy, a study this year by the American College Health Association found that 48 percent of college students reported moderate or severe psychological stress, 53 percent reported being lonely, and one in four had considered suicide.

Many college campuses are scrambling to expand and rethink the ways they help students cope with mental health concerns.

Riana Elyse Anderson is an assistant professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan.

Thanks for being with us.

This issue, I think, really got a lot of attention nationally when the University of North Carolina had sort of a mental health break for students after there were two apparent suicides. But you study this issue. You teach young people on a college campus. What do you see? Talk about your personal experience to sort of give our viewers a sense of this issue.

Riana Elyse Anderson, University of Michigan: Sure.

So, we know, over the past year, we have watched stress, anxiety and depression go up about fourfold for everyone. And that absolutely includes our young folks. So, whether these are pediatric populations or the collegiate population, we're watching this number just balloon, and that's on top of what we saw even as a pattern before COVID.

So we're watching college students really get impacted by the comparison that they're seeing in their classmates online, in social media. They're using comparison and they're feeling particularly anxious about it for themselves.

What were the factors before the pandemic?

Riana Elyse Anderson:

Social media is one thing that has really ballooned in this past decade, where children and adolescents are now college students who have been utilizing those strategies for the past several years now are starting to see, oh, that person got into college, this person scored this on this exam, whereas before you could only look as far as the cafeteria, right?

You didn't know what was happening nationwide. But now you have this greater comparison, and it's really impacting one's well-being.

Is there a sense of the — of a generational difference, that young people now are perhaps more concerned about mental health issues?

A wonderful article just came out looking at even the generation like myself, which is just one above the millennials, who really started thinking about mental health a bit differently than our generation before us.

We're starting to see now that generational divide in the Gen Z'ers, who are really staking a claim and saying, not only am I noticing it, but I want to take those days like the UNC students demanded, or I have to see a counselor, rather than go to class, rather than go to work.

And that's something our generation or those above never thought to do, never thought possible. So, on the one hand, what a wonderful thing to do and have that autonomy to say. It's another thing, though, when collegiate professors like myself are now saying, what do we do? How do we contend with teaching, with meeting, with doing the things we have to do for school to continue and meeting the needs of our students?

So, it's just challenging now for us to contend with that.

Are there differences along sort of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic lines? Thinking particularly first-generation college students whose families may not be prepared to help them through this.

Certainly, COVID has impacted that.

So we're seeing this dual impact of not only the resources that have been impacted by COVID, but the socioeconomic and racial disparities. So you're watching folks who perhaps didn't have the access or the tablets, the technology to do the work from home, or perhaps they didn't want to show their screens.

And so that's lessening the amount of time that they're on screen. They're feeling less connected to folks. And now that they're back into a college setting, that year has really impacted them. And they're trying to understand, how do they find community? How are they now exposed to some of the things that they weren't exposed to last year, including discrimination or rejection?

So they're contending with a lot of things that are unique for them relative to their classmates.

Talk about how colleges and universities can address this. How can they help students deal with this?

And, also, you talk about students being more willing to seek help. Are they finding — or are they being a little overwhelmed or finding greater demand than they have the supply for?

Absolutely. So, you said it well.

And the ways that we can combat that are prevention and intervention strategies. So, with respect to what you just said, the CAP services, or counseling and psych services, that most universities have, if we know what these numbers are, we can plan accordingly. We can make sure that we have referrals in the community.

We can expand the number of people on staff. So intervention strategies, once we know that mental health problems are bubbling over, can be something that we can do. But we can also engage in prevention strategies. That is, can we reduce the amount of assignments that we're giving? Can we take more days, like UNC did, as a community, so that no one's e-mailing, no one — it's not just who is saying, I'm going to take an individual day.

Your professors, your administration, no one is e-mailing or expecting anything of you, so that we can prevent some of those problems that we're seeing in the first place.

Riana Elyse Anderson from the University of Michigan, thank you very much.

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John Yang is the anchor of PBS News Weekend and a correspondent for the PBS News Hour. He covered the first year of the Trump administration and is currently reporting on major national issues from Washington, DC, and across the country.

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Essay on Stress On Students

Students are often asked to write an essay on Stress On Students in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Stress On Students

Stress on students: a pressing concern.

Stress has become a significant problem for students of all ages. Many factors, such as academic pressure, social expectations, and family issues, can contribute to stress in students.

Impact On Students’ Well-being:

Stress can negatively affect students’ physical and mental health. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Physically, stress can cause headaches, stomach aches, and other physical symptoms.

Effects on Academic Performance:

Stress can interfere with students’ ability to learn and focus in school. When students are stressed, they may have difficulty paying attention, remembering information, and solving problems. This can lead to lower grades and a decreased interest in school.

Coping With Stress:

Students need to learn effective ways to manage stress. Some helpful strategies include:

Conclusion:

250 words essay on stress on students, stress on students.

School children always experience stress. Stress can be influenced by various factors including exams, relations with peers, and expectations from parents and teachers. A little bit of stress can be helpful as it can motivate a child to study harder and perform better. However, too much stress can be harmful. It can cause physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomachaches and emotional symptoms, such as anxiety and depression.

Causes of Stress In Students

Stress in students can be caused by a variety of factors, including academic pressure, extracurricular activities, and social interactions. Academic pressure can be a major source of stress for students. Students may feel stressed about getting good grades, taking tests, and meeting the expectations of their parents and teachers. Extracurricular activities can also be a source of stress, especially if students are trying to balance their academic and extracurricular commitments. Social interactions can also be a source of stress for students, especially if they are struggling to make friends or fit in.

Effects of Stress on Students

Stress can have a negative impact on students’ physical and mental health. Physically, stress can lead to headaches, stomachaches, and sleep problems. Mentally, stress can lead to anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating. Stress can also make it more difficult for students to learn and remember information.

Coping with Stress

There are a number of things that students can do to cope with stress. These include:

500 Words Essay on Stress On Students

What is stress, causes of stress in students.

One of the main reasons students feel stressed is because of the pressure to do well in exams. Many students feel they have to get the best grades to be successful in the future. This pressure can come from their parents, teachers, or even themselves. Another reason is the amount of homework and assignments they have to complete. Sometimes, there is so much work that students don’t know how to manage their time well. This can make them feel overwhelmed and stressed.

Stress doesn’t just affect students’ health; it also affects their behavior. Some students might become irritable or angry easily, while others might withdraw and stop talking to their friends and family. This can make them feel lonely and even more stressed.

Dealing with Stress

In conclusion, stress is a common issue that many students face. It comes from academic pressure, too much homework, and social issues. Stress can have negative effects on students’ health and behavior, but there are ways to manage it. By organizing their time, taking breaks, and talking to someone about their feelings, students can reduce their stress levels and enjoy their school life more.

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Time Management and Its Effect in Reducing Stress among Students Expository Essay

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Introduction

The major causes of stress among high school students, time management and its role in reducing stress, works cited.

Students who manage their time well are more likely to cope with the stress associated with the increased academic and co-curricular demands of school life. As students scale the academic ladder, they will inevitably encounter increased workloads in line with their higher academic status.

With this increased workload comes a degree of stress that if not handled and dealt with, can seriously affect the overall health of a student. At the heart of the stress, managing strategy is effective time management. Through planning of events to avoid last minute rashes and clashes in activities, a student can reduce his or her chances of being stressed.

One of the causes of stress among high school students and college students is the difficulty in interacting with a completely new set of students and an even larger social group within the body of the learning institution (Shaffer 925).

Whether a student is moving from junior high school to high school or from high school to college, he/she has to deal with a completely new set of people. Shaffer et al. state that, the pressure to conform to real or imagined new standards can be overwhelming for some students.

This need to belong affects nearly all students and may lead some to be withdrawn and develop stress due to a perceived lack of belonging. As students try to establish a sort of balance between making friends and exploring the different social groups available at a new learning institution, the student’s academic performance may suffer and this will likely lead to conflicts with parents and teachers.

Coping with a larger group of students and teachers, coupled with having to learn more complex academic materials can be especially difficult for students who move to a new state or immigrant students who may have difficulties in communicating with other students.

Another source of stress for students in high schools and even colleges is the increased expectations from parents or guardians. Diaz identifies the pressure to pass exams as the most significant source of stress for high school students (29). Many high school students are especially easily angered and are generally unsocial during the week preceding major exams.

One major cause of stress related to exams is the high expectation placed on students to do well in examinations. This expectation is mostly from parents. The pressure and subsequent stress can be particularly intense in students enrolled in academic programs designed for gifted students like the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

Students in these programs are expected to maintain high academic standards throughout a school term or semester, and this can be very stressful for them, especially since the expectation comes from both teachers and parents. Students who are sponsored by organizations and even well-wishers also experience more stress during exam periods since most of the time their sponsorship is pegged on maintaining a certain academic performance standard.

The increased workload associated with a higher academic level is also a major source of stress for students. According to Shannon, Niebling, and Heckert, many studies indicate an increase in stress levels for students as they move from one level of education to a higher one (312).

This can mostly be attributed to the increased workload that the students have to cope with (Ranjita and McKean 42). Further, students may be engaged in many different activities in high school and this may contribute to a workload increase that may prove hard to handle for the students. Many high school students actively engaged in a sport will have to work harder just to be at par with other students in his or her class who are not engaged in any sport or other time-demanding co-curricular activity.

Reduced physical activity has been a major factor in increased levels of stress amongst high school and college students. Spruijt-Metz states that there is a direct connection between the stress levels of high school students and their level of physical activity (180). The students who are less physically active are more likely to have higher stress levels, and vice versa.

Effective time management is the best way of reducing or eliminating stress associated with general lack of planning among high school students. Hechuan and Yang state that, one of the reasons that high school students experience academic related stress is due to inadequate or inconsistent sleep patterns (464).

Due to various engagements, students may find themselves sleeping irregularly, or getting fewer sleep hours, which eventually harms their academic performance by affecting concentration in class. They recommend that students should plan their day effectively to ensure they get adequate (about seven hours) sleep every night.

Hechuan and Yang also state that to avoid the stress associated with impending exams, students should prepare for the exams adequately by ensuring that they set aside study time every day, and this early preparation will ensure students are relaxed and confident as exams approach (465).

Students should also plan by setting aside adequate time for doing and concluding homework every day. This ensures that the workload for each particular day is effectively dealt with and no work is carried forward to another day.

The importance of ensuring that assignments for each particular day are completed is that it helps the students keep up with the class work and this reduces the pressure of having to read substantial amounts of information (a source of stress) during exam periods due to failure to do set assignments.

Another important stress reducing activity that should be factored in a student’s daily plans should be physical activity. Workload increase is inevitable and intense reading and studying as one climbs the academic ladder is a norm rather than an exception. Therefore, to effectively deal with stress, students should be encouraged to relieve stress through engaging in physical activities, which have the added benefit of re-invigorating the body, and this makes the student feel fresh enough for further academic activities.

As shown in the foregoing discussion, time management – planning activities to fit into a specific schedule is the best way of reducing stress levels amongst students. Through time management, students will be more likely to cope with stresses associated with the increased academic and co-curricular demands of high school and college.

Students who are keen on maintaining a certain high level of academic performance will strive to manage their time effectively to ensure that they engage in any institutional activity they desire without compromising their performance standards. Stress sets in only when the involved party fails to manage the available time effectively.

Diaz, Luis. “A Study on the Effectiveness of a Stress Management Program for College Students.” Pharmacy Education 5.1 (2005): 27-31.

Hechuan, Sun, and Yang, Xiaolin. “Students’ Pressure, Time Management, and Effective Learning.” The International Journal of Educational Management 23.6 (2009): 456-460.

Ranjita, Misra, and McKean, Michelle. “College Students’ Academic Stress and Its Relation to Their Anxiety, Time Management, and Leisure Satisfaction.” American Journal of Health Studies 16.1 (2000): 41-46.

Shaffer, Emily. “Sources of Stress for Students in High School College Preparatory and General Education Programs: Group Differences and Associations with Adjustment.” Adolescence 44.176 (2009): 925-948.

Shannon, Ross, Niebling, Bradley, and Heckert, Teresa. “Sources of Stress among College Students.” College Student Journal 33.2 (1999): 311-314.

Spruijt-Metz, Donna. “Associations between Physical Activity and Perceived Stress/Hassles in College Students.” Stress & Health: Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress 22.3 (2006): 179-188.

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IvyPanda . (2018) 'Time Management and Its Effect in Reducing Stress among Students'. 6 June.

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1. IvyPanda . "Time Management and Its Effect in Reducing Stress among Students." June 6, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/time-management-and-its-effect-in-reducing-stress-among-students/.

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IvyPanda . "Time Management and Its Effect in Reducing Stress among Students." June 6, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/time-management-and-its-effect-in-reducing-stress-among-students/.

Essay Sample on Causes and Effects of Stress on Students, With Outline

Published by gudwriter on January 4, 2021 January 4, 2021

Cause and Effects Essay Outline About Stress Among Students

Introduction.

Stress in students may have serious harmful effects and thus needs to be addressed.

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Paragraph 1:

One of the causes of stress in students is poor sleeping habits.

• Students who do not get enough sleep at night or lack healthy sleeping habits are likely to develop stress.
• Enough sleep allows the brain and body of a student to relax and recharge.
• Lack of it can limit a student’s ability to learn, concentrate and solve problems.

Paragraph 2:

Student stress is caused by academic pressure.

• They are given homework assignments.
• They have classroom assignments and term papers that are supposed to be completed and submitted in strict deadlines.
• Pressure to do well from those close to them such as family, friends, and teachers.

Paragraph 3:

Student stress may result from poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits.

• Stress-inducing foods are those that have high refined carbohydrates, sugar, caffeine, and fat.
• A stress-reducing diet is made up of foods that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber and low in fat content.

Paragraph 4: 

High stress levels could make students develop physical symptoms that could negatively affect their academic performance.

• When a student experiences these symptoms, they might not feel the motivation they once felt about doing their best on academic tasks.
• The symptoms are detrimental to the health of students.

Paragraph 5:

Stress makes students to have poor management skills.

• A student could become disorganized and uncertain about their priorities and goals.
• They become incapable of effectively budgeting and managing their time.
• They develop a tendency of procrastinating and neglecting responsibilities.

Paragraph 6:

Stress leads to self-defeating thoughts.

• A student under stress may consistently think about the adversity or negative situation in which they are.
• They could constantly focus on their weaknesses and failures.

Paragraph 7: 

There are various stress management strategies students may take to reduce stress.

• Get regular physical activity and practice.
• Spend quality time with friends and family, and keeping a sense of humor.
• Find time for such hobbies as listening to music, playing football, and reading a book.
• Get enough sleep and consume balanced diet.
• Stress in students cause serious negative effects, both physical and academic.
• It results from poor sleeping habits, academic pressure, and poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits.
• It results into physical symptoms, poor management skills, and self-defeating thoughts.
• Parents and teachers should work together to ensure that students do not experience much stress.

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A Cause and Effect Essay on Stress in Students

Stress is the natural response the human body gives to challenges. Students are exposed to stress by various factors. When a student undergoes chronic stress or high stress levels, their ability to learn, memorize, and post good academic performances can be interfered with regardless of their age or grade. Stress can also make a student experience poor mental, emotional, and physical health. Teachers and parents may help students avoid chronic stress in their lives if they learn about and develop a good understanding of common stressors. Stress in students may have serious harmful effects and thus needs to be addressed.

One of the causes of stress in students is poor sleeping habits. Compared to students who get plenty of sleep, students who do not get enough sleep at night or lack healthy sleeping habits are likely to develop stress. Enough sleep allows the brain and body of a student to relax and recharge. It also helps in ensuring that the immune system remains strong. On the other hand, lack of enough sleep can limit a student’s ability to learn, concentrate, and solve problems and can also make them more aggressive. According to Hales and Hales (2016), it is recommended by the National Sleep Foundation that young people, especially students, should maintain a regular sleep schedule and that they should sleep for between 8.5 and 9.25 hours per night.

Another major cause of student stress is academic pressure. As teachers prepare students for standardized tests, they give them homework even if the students are as young as six only. In addition to these homework assignments, there are classroom assignments and term papers that are supposed to be completed and submitted in strict deadlines. The pressure that comes from these assignments coupled with the desire by students to succeed academically culminates into stress. Students also experience pressure to do well in their academic work from those close to them such as family, friends, and even teachers (Raju, 2009). They therefore feel so much pushed that they even resort to academic dishonesty such as cheating in exams so as to match these high expectations.

A student’s stress levels can also increase due to poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits. Foods that are associated with high stress levels in students include those that have high refined carbohydrates, sugar, caffeine, and fat. This is the case with many types of fast, processed, and convenience foods. Examples of foods that induce stress include French fries, white bread, processed snack foods, candy bars, donuts, energy drinks, and sodas (Kumar, 2015). A healthy stress-reducing diet is made up of foods that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber and low in fat content. Examples of such foods include lean proteins, nuts, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.

It is noteworthy that high stress levels can make students develop physical symptoms that could negatively affect their academic performance. These signs and symptoms include chest pain, elevated blood pressure, stomach upset, mumbled or rapid speech, nervous habits such as fidgeting, back and neck pains, tremors and trembling of lips, and frequent headaches (Kumar, 2015). When a student experiences these symptoms, they might not feel the motivation they once felt about doing their best in such academic tasks as completing assignments or preparing for tests. Moreover, the symptoms are detrimental to the health of students, a factor which may father make their academic fortunes to dwindle.

Stress also makes students to have poor management skills. A student could become disorganized and uncertain about their priorities and goals as a result of suffering from high levels of stress. This could further make them incapable of effectively budgeting and managing their time. Moreover, highly stressed students have the tendency to procrastinate and neglect such important responsibilities as meeting deadlines and completing assignments (Hales & Hales, 2016). This, of course, negatively impacts the quality of their academic work and study skills.

High stress levels could further lead to self-defeating thoughts among students. While undergoing stress, it is likely that a student may consistently think about the adversity or negative situation in which they find themselves. In addition, they could constantly focus on their weaknesses and failures while ignoring their strengths and achievements. These are self-defeating thoughts that not only deal a blow to their self-esteem but also affect how they behave and how they feel both as humans and as students (Patel, 2016). They result into a student lacking confidence in their abilities and this negatively impacts their success in school since they cannot perform to their highest potential.

There are various stress management strategies students may take to reduce stress. One of these is to get regular physical activity and practice such relaxation techniques as massage, tai chi, yoga, meditation, and deep breathing. Students may also keep stress away by spending quality time with friends and family, and keeping a sense of humor. Another strategy may be to find time for such hobbies as listening to music, playing football, and reading a book. It is also important that one gets enough sleep and consumes balanced diet (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2019). These strategies may both alleviate and prevent stress among students.

Stress in students cause serious negative effects, both physical and academic. Students may experience stress due to poor sleeping habits, academic pressure, and poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits. Students need enough sleep and less pressure for their brain to relax and recharge for it to function well. They also need to avoid stress-inducing foods such as fries and sodas. As has been seen, high stress levels could lead to physical symptoms, poor management skills, and self-defeating thoughts among students. As such, parents and teachers should work together in ensuring that students do not experience much stress because it is not good for their health and academic ability.

Hales, D., & Hales, J. (2016). Personal stress management: surviving to thriving . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Kumar, N. (2015). Psychological stress among science students . New York, NY: Springer.

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2019). “Stress symptoms: effects on your body and behavior”. Mayo Clinic . Retrieved March 27, 2020 from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987

Patel, G. (2016). An achievement motivation and academic anxiety of school going students . Lunawada: Red’shine Publication. Inc.

Raju, M. V. (2009). Health psychology and counselling . Delhi, India: Discovery Publishing House.

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Dive into the complex web of stressors and their consequences for students in our comprehensive essay. To amplify the impact of your talk, use our innovative speech generator to craft engaging speeches.

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