College Student Journal, June 1999
v33 i2 p312
SOURCES OF STRESS AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS. SHANNON
E. ROSS; BRADLEY C. NIEBLING; TERESA M. HECKERT.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1999 Project Innovation (Alabama)
The Student Stress Survey (SSS) was used to determine the major sources of stress among college students. The scale
consisted of 40 potentially stressful situations. The scale addressed
interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic, and environmental sources of stress.
The items in the scale were also classified as either daily hassles or major
life events. Participants were 100 students at a mid-sized, Midwestern
university and varied in year in school, age, gender, and major. Overall, daily
hassles were reported more often than major life events, with intrapersonal
sources of stress being the most frequently reported source. The top five
sources of stress were; change in sleeping habits, vacations/breaks, change in
eating habits, increased work load, and new responsibilities. The findings from
this study may be further used to examine which sources of stress cause the
highest levels of stress among college students, and may be helpful in creating
stress management programs.
College students, especially freshmen, are a group particularly
prone to stress (D'Zurilla & Sheedy, 1991) due to the transitional nature
of college life (Towbes & Cohen, 1996). They must adjust to being away from
home for the first time, maintain a high level of academic achievement, and
adjust to a new social environment. College students, regardless of year in
school, often deal with pressures related to finding a job or a potential life
partner. These stressors do not cause anxiety or tension by themselves.
Instead, stress results from the interaction between stressors and the
individual's perception and reaction to those stressors (Romano, 1992). The
amount of stress experienced may be influenced by the individual's ability to
effectively cope with stressful events and situations (D'Zurilla & Sheedy,
1991). If stress is not dealt with effectively, feelings of loneliness and
nervousness, as well as sleeplessness and excessive worrying may result
(Wright, 1967). It is important that stress intervention programs be designed
to address stress of college students. However, in order to design an effective
intervention, the stressors specific to college students must be determined
(Wright, 1967).
The dynamic relationship between the person and environment in
stress perception and reaction is especially magnified in college students. The
problems and situations encountered by college students may differ from those
faced by their nonstudent peers (Hirsch & Ellis, 1996). The environment in
which college students live is quite different. While jobs outside of the
university setting involve their own sources of stress, such as evaluation by
superiors and striving for goals, the continuous evaluation that college
students are subjected to, such as weekly tests and papers, is one which is not
often seen by non-students (Wright, 1964). The pressure to earn good grades and
to earn a degree is very high (Hirsch & Ellis, 1996). Earning high grades
is not the only source of stress for college students. Other potential sources
of stress include excessive homework, unclear assignments, and uncomfortable
classrooms (Kohn & Frazer, 1986). In addition to academic requirements,
relations with faculty members and time pressures may also be sources of stress
(Sgan-Cohen & Lowental, 1988). Relationships with family and friends,
eating and sleeping habits, and loneliness may affect some students adversely
(Wright, 1967).
Assessment of stress levels in college students is a topic often
examined by researchers. For example, Towbes and Cohen (1996) created the
College Chronic Life Stress Survey in which they focused on the frequency of
chronic stress in the lives of college students. This scale contains items that
persist across time to create stress, such as interpersonal conflicts,
self-esteem problems, and money problems. They evaluated these stressors in
relation to how many times a student had to deal with them on a weekly basis.
They found that in regard to chronic stress, first-year students scored higher
than other students. Similar studies have examined sources of stress among both
undergraduate (Gadzella, 1994) and graduate students (Rocha-Singh, 1994). While
many specific events and situations have been implicated as stressors for
college students, more research is needed to investigate the nature of these of
these stressors for college students, and which stressors are most prevalent in
college students lives. It is unclear whether most stressors result from
interpersonal relationships or academics. In addition, research is needed to
clarify whether these stressors are mostly daily hassles or major live events.
The purpose of this study was to determine what sources of stress are the most
prevalent among college students, and to examine the nature of these stressors.
Method
Participants
Participants were 100 undergraduate students (20 males, 80
females) at a mid-sized Midwestern university. Students were recruited from a
local chapter of a national co-ed service fraternity that is open to students
at any grade level.
Materials and Procedure
The Student Stress Survey was created for this study based on the
Student Stress Scale (Insel, & Roth, 1985), the Taylor Manifest Anxiety
Scale (Taylor, 1953), and other potential sources of stress that were
identified by the researchers. The survey consisted of 40 items that were
divided into 4 categories of potential sources of stress: six items
representing interpersonal sources of stress, 16 items representing
intrapersonal sources of stress, eight items representing academic sources of
stress, and 10 items representing environmental sources of stress.
Interpersonal sources result from interactions with other people, such as, a
fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend or trouble with parents, Intrapersonal
sources result from internal sources, such as, changes in eating or sleeping
habits. Academic sources arise from school-related activities and issues, such
as, an increased class workload or transferring schools. Finally, environmental
stressors result from problems in the environment, outside of academics, such
as car or computer problems. Respondents checked each item they had experienced
during the current school year.
Within these divisions, the stressors were identified as either
daily hassles, like financial difficulties or being placed in an unfamiliar
situation, or major life events, such as starting college or change in use of
alcohol or drugs. Daily hassles comprised six interpersonal stressors, seven
intrapersonal stressors, three academic stressors, and seven environmental. The
Student Stress Survey was distributed at the beginning of a regularly scheduled
fraternity meeting in the 1997 Spring semester.
Results and Discussion
The number of items checked ranged from 0 to 31, with a mean of
16.5 (SD = 4.62). The distribution of responses was as follows: 38% of the
stressors were intrapersonal, 28% environmental, 19% interpersonal, and 15%
academic. The number of responses to each item can be found in Table 1. Of the
responses for interpersonal sources of stress, 100% were daily hassles. Daily
hassles accounted for 88.2% of the environmental stressors. Daily hassles were
responsible for 77.3% of the intrapersonal stressors, and 67.2% of the academic
sources of stress. Overall, 81.1% of the identified stress sources could be
classified as daily hassles.
Table 1 Number of College Students Reporting Each Source of Stress
Category
Total
Interpersonal
Change in social activities
71
Roommate conflict
61
Work with people you don't know
57
Fight with boyfriend/girlfriend
41
New boyfriend/girlfriend
36
Trouble with parents
21
Intrapersonal
Change in sleeping habits
89
Change in eating habits
74
New responsibilities
73
Financial difficulties
71
Held a job
65
Spoke in public
60
Change in use of alcohol or drugs
39
Outstanding personal achievement
35
Started college
32
Decline in personal health
26
Minor law violation 14
Change in religious beliefs
13
Death of a family member
12
Death of a friend
6
Severe injury
5
Engagement/Marriage
2
Academic
Increased class workload
73
Lower grade than anticipated
68
Change of Major
24
Search for graduate school/job
21
Missed too many classes
21
Anticipation of graduation
20
Serious argument with instructor
11
Transferred schools
3
Environmental
Vacations/breaks
82
Waited in long line
69
Computer problems
69
Placed in unfamiliar situation
51
Messy living conditions
50
Put on hold for extended period of
time 47
Change in living environment
46
Car trouble
42
Quit job
8
Divorce between parents
1
Note. (a) n = 100
In our sample, intrapersonal sources of stress were the most
common source of stress. Interestingly, three of the top five sources of stress
listed by the participants were intrapersonal sources. The five most frequently
stressors were, in order: change in sleeping habits (89%), vacations/breaks
(82%), change in eating habits (74%), new responsibilities (73%), and increased
class workload (73%). It is important to note that this data was collected in
the Spring Semester, a time in which many people were planning spring break
trips. This may have raised the number of responses for taking a break or
vacation. Financial difficulties (71%) and change in social activities (71%)
were also frequently reported stressors. The five least frequently reported
stressors were; death of a friend (6%), severe injury (5%), transferred schools
(3%), engagement/marriage (2%), and divorce between parents (1%). Quitting
one's job (8%) was also a infrequently reported stressor. Another interesting
result was that, in a college setting, events such as missing too many classes
(21%) and arguing with an instructor (11%) only comprised 15% of the total
responses.
This study represents a first step in understanding sources of stress for college students. We were
able to identify which sources of stress occur in the lives of these students.
Additionally, research should expand on these findings by determining the
degree of stress resulting from each source. Such research would permit
conclusions on which stressors are most detrimental or severe and which
stressors have a negligible effect. This information could be useful in
designing a stress intervention by suggesting the focus and content of the
workshop. For example, new responsibilities, waiting in long line, and holding
a job, were commonly reported sources of stress. If the most potent sources of
stress are related to the varying demands on a student's time, then time
management training would be a necessary component of a successful workshop.
Conflict management training might also be another valuable area to cover in a
stress management workshop, given the high level of reported roommate conflict.
Another frequently reported source of stress for college students was receiving
a lower grade than expected. Perhaps teaching students ways to deal with
unexpected stressors would be another valuable component of a stress management
workshop. The high number of reported computer problems is a relatively new
area of stress research for a college population, and should be researched
further.
Another important factor to consider when studying stress is to
explore which sources of stress are motivating and beneficial, and which
sources of stress are detrimental. It has been established that moderate
amounts of stress help motivate us and, at times, increase our performance
(Moore, Burrows, & Dalziel, 1992). The outcome of stress may be dependent
upon its source and its severity. This possibility should investigated in
future research. Given that our sample was drawn from a single campus
organization, future research should verify our findings with a more diverse
sample.
In conclusion, our results are suggestive as to the necessary
components of a stress management program specific to the needs of college
students. Given the detrimental effects of stress on health (Zakowski, Hall,
& Baum, 1992) and academic performance (Wright, 1964), college
administrators should consider incorporating stress management training in
orientation activities. At a minimum, the sources of stress identified as the
most common could be discussed with incoming freshmen. Furthermore, students
should be informed of the campus resources available to help them address these
resources. A better approach may be the use of a stress management workshop,
specifically geared to the stressors encountered by college students.
Certainly, stress in the college setting cannot be eliminated but we can and
should do a better job preparing our students to manage it.
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SHANNON E. ROSS, BRADLEY C. NIEBLING, AND TERESA M. HECKERT Truman
State University