Cause of Stress among College Students - Essay Example

Cause of Stress among College 0 Introduction of Topic In general prospect, stress is regarded as the approach of body response over theenvironment demand and pressure. Stress can arise either from positive and/or negative experiences. In other words, it can also be regarded as psychological or physiological imbalance that results from various levels of discrepancies over the situational demands with the ability of an individual and his/her level of motivation to meet those demands. Besides, in an individual’s life, stress can either have a positive or a negative influence, as stress is regarded to be good when it offers opportunity to gain new heights and act as powerful motivational tools on the other hand. Stress might also impose a negative impact, as it creates physical, social and emotional issues. Apparently, the source and the causes of stress differ from person to person, wherein the career concerns, role ambiguities, lack of precipitations, motivational issues, over work-loads and pressures are some of the few possible reasons of stress (Seaward, 2014). In context of a student’s life, the aspect of stress is regarded as the natural feeling designed to meet the challenges of the changing situations. In some prospect, it is regarded as a good or a positive factor, principally as it pushes the students to perform and work harder in their life. In the prospect of some students, stress is regarded to be very exciting, while for others, it proves to be very much challenging as it imposes considerable impact on their health. 1.1 Purpose of the Research Study The purpose of the research study is to assess the causes of stress among students because of education. Furthermore, the study aims at determining whether stress is regarded to be beneficial or possesses significant threat for the students (Olpin & Hesson, 2015). 1.2 Problem Statement Stating precisely, stress is a physical response that develops the feeling of being upset and imbalances among people and in the modern scenario of the learning, when students at times get frustrated with the demanding situations. Additionally, the students’ life is today considered as highly exposed to the issues of stress to make them prepare for the future uncertainties. However, the students who were already having other health complications such as depression or are rather venerable to it, extreme level of stress can significantly trigger to develop other complications. Besides, the perception of the students over the demand of the situation plays a decisive role in the having a positive or a negative influence, depending on the fact students perceive to have positive approach towards the demanding situations. Relatively, different factors and scenarios can cause stress among students, wherein the most commonly cited causes of stress include examination pressure, deadline pressure, difficulty in organising the personal and working life, noise, improper environment, difficulty in adjusting the life among the other factors. Relatively, in various instances, the causes of stress gradually accumulated without the other notice and leads to severe threats in the students’ life. Gradually, the unnoticed response and measure to remove the causes of stress will have significant impacts - physical, emotionally and mentally (Olpin & Hesson, 2015). Moreover, the study will be beneficial for the prospective of the students to increase their knowledge and pros and cons of developing stress in the demanding situations. In the likely manner, through a critical understanding to the different causes of risks, the study findings will be helpful to strengthen the positive approach in students regarding stress and how to mitigate the issue positively. 2.0 Summarize the Literature Kai-Wen (2010) investigated different reasons of stress among the Taiwanese students. Kai-Wen (2010) thus affirmed that stress is regarded to be the physical phenomenon that develops from cognitive appraisal. Besides, the existence of stress and its impact highly depends on the stressor. Additionally, Kai-Wen (2010) highlighted that psychological, family, school, relationship and social factors are prior sources that develop stress in students. On the other hand, Sharma & Kaur (2011) argues that students face considerable stress, which includes academics pressure that obligates them to succeed, besides future uncertainties as well as problematic in dealing and adopting the learning system. Furthermore, it has been concluded by Sharma & Kaur (2011) that environmental factors have maximum sources of stress in students followed by other interpersonal reasons. Correspondingly, Pariat et. al. (2014) highlighted that college students face considerable amount of stress in their academic life wherein the sources of stress differs from internal as well as external pressures. Similarly, the students need to adopt the environment that will make them strive for success, managing vague futures, societal issues and opportunities often creating stress among the students (Yusoff, 2010). Correspondingly, Pandya et. al. (2012) highlighted that excessive level of the homework, difficulty in completing the assignments, as well as uncomfortable environment in the classroom are the key sources of stress in the students. Moreover, the other factors including academic requirements, and pressures also may lead to increase in the possibility of stress among students. Nevertheless, the study concluded that the academic environment in comparison to the non-academic element is different and thus, the sources of stress in the students might differ from one to another. According to Mazumdar et. al. (2012), stress is an unavoidable aspect of human life, which relates with the conditions or the feeling that one develops when they begin perceiving that the demand of the situation is exceeding the possibility of personal resources and their capabilities. Additionally, stress can rise from any situation whether it could be present, past or future. Besides, the study highlighted that the main contributing reasons of stress among the students include physical, mental, relationship, and social. 3.0 Gaps in the Literature Students face considerable challenges in their way to achieve the overall academic goals and requirements. Additionally, various researches have been carried out those are highly correlated with determining the factors, effects and impacts over the mental health of the students that lead to their high stress conditions. However, reviewing the literature it has been observed that researches have not able to prioritise over stress related causes that leads to negative impacts over the academic succession. Thus, this research will prove to be beneficial for the academic authorities to plan and conduct the needful programs to eradicate the possibility of stress among students. 3.1 Research Question This research study emphasises over determining major causes of stress among students. Hence, the research question can be developed as – “What are the causes of stress among students and why do they occur?” 3.2 Proposed Theory for Research 4.0 Themes in the Literature Stress is commonly referred to the psychological position of individuals when they face tremendous pressure or challenge and surrender to be impossible to cope with. In general, stress is regarded as an aversive condition imposing direct effects on the metabolic reactions of the human body, further influencing their behavioral activities by challenging their physiological abilities (Hwu and Kuo, 2007). With its myriad effects observable in the various dimensions of the society, stress has also been identified among college students at a continuously increasing rate in the modern phenomenon. Undoubtedly, as the study intent, effects of stress observed on college students, presents a multidimensional, complex and wide ranging event. Thus, to obtain a specific direction and understanding to the effects caused by stress on college students, the discussion henceforth emphasizes three themes; viz. (i) Physical and Psychological effects caused by stress among college students, (ii) Unhealthy habits in effect of stress on college students, and (iii) Increased drop-out rates as effects of stress on college students. 5.0 Findings and Results of Literature 5.1 Physical and psychological effects caused by stress among college students Scholars have often argued sleep disorders, and psychological effects such as anxiety and negative mood fluctuations as associated with education stress among college students. Assessing the same notion through a quantitative model, findings obtained by Wong, Lau, Wan, Cheung, Hui & MOK (2013), revealed a higher scale of daytime sleepiness, depression or negative anxiety and reduced self-esteem interlinked with the academic functioning of the college students. Although Wong et al. (2013) depicted an interlinkage between the factors stated, the relationship tested was more inclined towards testing the psychological effects on the educational merits of the students and not the vice-versa. A rather more insightful explanation was provided by Read, Ouimette, White, Colder & Farrow (2011), wherein the study revealed a strong association of posttraumatic stress disorder with matriculated students entering college, which however differed on the basis of gender. Thus, referring to Read et al. (2011), it can be asserted that a history of psychological traumas among the entering students can also give rise to the rate of stress among college goers, while increased educational pressure only augments such disorders within the population. This particular inference was justified in the study made by Elhai, Miller, Ford, Biehn, Palmieri & Frueh (2012), demonstrating greater rates of physical and psychological impairments among college students in terms of negatively reactivity, avoidance, negative cognitive alterations and hyper-arousal among others (refer to table 1 in appendix). Nonetheless, stress is found to be perceived by the students, which further results into anxiety and sleeping disorders among them, further causing physical health deterioration (Duan, Ho, Siu, Li & Zhang, 2015). In a nutshell, it can thus be asserted that although a more in-depth study is in demand to test the theme, the correlation between physiological and psychological disorders and stress experienced by college students stands proven. 5.2 Unhealthy habits in effect of stress on college students Stress has long been perceived to steer individuals towards unhealthy habits such as drug consumption, alcohol consumption and greater dependency on caffeinated energy drinks or beverages, which is also found common among college students. Velazquez, Poulos, Latimer, & Pasch (2012) thus argues that these products are readily available to the college students, wherein more than stress, students tend to get affected by such habits owing to peer pressure or other social inferences, which possibly varies from males to females. A subjective point of concern in this context is the fact that even though females are observed to be more affected by academic stress than males, the number of females getting habituated and dependent to these unhealthy choices is much lesser than their male counterparts (Pettit & DeBarr, 2011). However, Lohsoonthorn, Khidir, Casillas, Lertmaharit, Tadesse, Pensuksan, Rattananupong, Gelaye & Williams (2013) argues contradictory to such a supposition wherein academic pressures tend to drive students towards high consumption of energy drinks and caffeinated beverages, causing sleep disorders among them. 5.3 Increased drop-out rates as effects of stress on college students As argued by Stinebrickner & Stinebrickner (2013), poor grades among students were a major cause of stress, which also provoked a higher number of drop-outs from the first or the second years in colleges. Stress in such conditions can be observed in the form of decreased enjoyability among students in colleges while the poor grades increases nervous tension to post-college earning potentials among the students, increasing their drop-out rates. A major reason for governments and educational institutions to instructional strategies has been the “take-it or leave-it” attitudinal issues observed among college students (Gentry, 2014). Upright, Esslinger & Hays (2014) was also of the view that with increasing stress among college students, their physical health tends to deteriorate further, depicting their greater inclination towards dropping out of colleges. Hence, a direct relation between stress and college drop-out rates can be hypothesized as a major effect of the former on the students. 6.0 Research Methodology Stress has become a major problem for all sections of people within a society amongst whom the school and the college going students become victims of psychological disorders. With this concern, the purpose of this research is to determine the causes of stress amongst the college students and the impacts of the same on their overall performance. 7.0 Research Approach There are generally three types of approaches being followed for conducting any research study that include qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods (ACAPS, 2012). For conducting the provided research study, only qualitative approach has been used, as it deemed to be relevant with the subject matter of the study and the most reliable outcomes have been derived by using the stated approach (WebMD LLC, 2015). 8.0 Data Collection Method In general, there are two sorts of data collection methods that include primary and secondary. The type of data collection method to be applied in this research study completely depended on its requirement to reach into an ultimate conclusion (Institute for Work & Health, 2009). For conducting the entire research study, both primary and secondary data collection methods have been used for gathering the most relevant and reliable data regarding the subject matter. Primary data collection was essential to take into concern for the given research study in order to receive a practical feedback from the students regarding the factors that causes stress among them (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2015). The primary data required for the research study was obtained by interviewing the students of a well-known college, which supported in understanding the factors that causes stress among them. For conducting the interview, 8 students of the college were selected that included 4 male and 4 female. It was an unstructured interview and there were 10 questions being formulated that were asked to the respondents. The questions thus framed for the study were all open ended in order to allow the respondents to express their viewpoints in detail. The feedbacks of the respondents were recorded in a voice recorder so that these can be analyzed effectively without misinterpretation and eliminating the risk of data loss. The respondents were clearly informed regarding the purpose of the research study and thus ensured that their valuable information will not be leaked without their permission. Prior approval from the management of the college was taken before conducting the interview. The respondents who were not willing to participate in the interview process were not forced to participate in the process. Similarly, the secondary data collection method also contributed much in gathering relevant information for the research study. The secondary sources included authentic and reliable journals, peer reviewed articles and reports that relate to the subject matter of the study. It is worth mentioning that collection of secondary sources is hustle free and with accessing the same, relevant data is easily available relevant to the topic (Hox & Boeije, 2005). 9.0 Data Analysis Data analysis is the process of transforming raw data gathered from various primary as well as secondary sources into information for obtaining a valid and reliable outcome of a particular research study (Community Tool Box, 2014). Various investigative as well as logical reasoning techniques are generally used in analyzing the derived data. It has been earlier mentioned that the provided research study is completely based on qualitative approach and thus for analyzing the data, most appropriate tools and techniques have been used for obtaining positive results. In this context, descriptive form of data analysis has been used in the research, which aided in gaining an in-depth understanding of the subject matter (AECT, 2001). 10.0 Summarization of Findings and Interpretations of Results A set of 10 questions was asked in the interview in order to understand the causes of stress among the students. The first question was asked to understand the age of the respondents wherein it was found that amongst the 8 respondents, 6 of them were above the age of 25 years and the remaining 2 respondents were between the age of 19 and 24 years. The second question was regarding their gender and it was found that amongst the 8 respondents, 4 were male and 4 were female that eliminated the biasness of feedback. The third question was regarding the highest educational qualification possessed by them. Analyzing the result regarding the same, it was found that out of the eight respondents, 3 of them graduated from college and the remaining 5 had completed their graduate school. The fourth question was to understand the major’s of the college and analyzing the feedback it was found that were five majors including Criminal justice (BA), Electronics, Computer Science, Math, Information assurance, Adult education, Master in Education, Engineer and International Affairs and Political Science. The fifth question was to understand the stress that college funding generates for the respondents. In this regard, seven respondents answered the question and 2 of them replied ‘no stress at all’, 4 of them stated ‘some stress’ and 1 of them answered ‘high stress.’ The sixth question was to understand the hours that the respondents spend per week for studying. Seven of such respondents answered the question and among them one replied 1-3 hours, 2 respondents stated 4-7 hours, another two answered 8-11 hours and the remaining 2 respondents replied 8-11 hours. The seventh question was asked regarding the extracurricular activities within which they are involved with. Two among the seven respondents were only engaged in extracurricular activities. The eighth question was regarding the factors that cause them stress. Seven respondents answered the question and the factors being derived were work pressure, deadlines, exam papers, family money health, time management and workload, apartment upkeep and travelling. The ninth question was to understand the methods that the respondents use to cope up with the stress. Analyzing the responses, it was found that they tend to exercise, sleep, consult with friends and ensure early start in every work to cope up with the stress. The last question was asked regarding whether any professor influences the level of stress in the class and in response, 50 percent of the participants replied ‘yes’ and the remaining 50 percent replied ‘no’. 11.0 Limitations in the Research A major limitation in the research was related to the collection of primary data, wherein no questionnaire survey was being conducted. The data was collected by interviewing the respondents wherein there might laid the possibility of obtaining biased responses from the participants about the stated subject matter of the research. References ACAPS. (2012). Qualitative and quantitative research techniques for humanitarian needs assessment. Retrieved from http://www.acaps.org/img/documents/q-qualitative-and-quantitative-research.pdf AECT. (2001). What Is Descriptive Research? Retrieved from http://www.aect.org/edtech/ed1/41/41-01.html Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2015). Collecting primary data. 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Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 123, 167-172. WebMD LLC. (2015). Presenting and evaluating qualitative research. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/731165_3 Wong, M. L., Lau, E. Y. Y., Wan, J. H. Y., Cheung, D. F., Hui, C. H. & Mok, D. S. Y. (2013). The interplay between sleep and mood in predicting academic functioning, physical health and psychological health: A longitudinal study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 74, 271-277. Yusoff, M. S. B. (2010). Stress, stressors and coping strategies among secondary school students in a Malaysian government secondary school: Initial findings. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 11(2), 1-15. Appendix Table 1: DSM-5 PTSD model standardized factor loadings (n = 216) Source: (Elhai, Miller, Ford, Biehn, Palmieri & Frueh, 2012) Read More