Stress and Stress Management

Health Psychology – Stress Management

Stress is a term that refers to the physical and emotional adaptive reaction to external situations that generate psychological, behavioral, or psychological deviations (Hailu, 2020). Stress is brought by various factors relating to the experiences of daily life. As a result, individuals need to develop stress management techniques to learn to cope with stress and mitigate its impacts on physical and emotional health and wellbeing. Students in secondary schools and higher learning institutions are increasingly exposed to a series of ongoing normative stressors relating to daily academic demands (Pascoe, Hetrick & Parker, 2019). Academic-related stress affects the health and wellbeing of these students as well as lessens academic performance, increases the risk of school dropout, and decreases motivation. While numerous stress management techniques and behaviors exist, the impact of stress management behaviors on academic-related stress remains unknown. This study seeks to address the gap in existing literature to help promote the development of stress behaviors that improve stress management among university students. The study will achieve this by answering the following research question:

What is the impact of stress management behaviors on the reduction of academic-related stress among university students?

Analysis of Selected Literature

The issue of stress management among university students has attracted considerable attention among psychologists, educators, educational researchers, and other relevant stakeholders. This issue has been the subject of numerous studies conducted in recent years as stress management is viewed as an important factor in enhancing the academic performance and the health and wellbeing of university students.

Hailu (2020) defines stress as the physical and psychological response to external situations associated with behavioral, physical, and psychological abnormalities. Stress is classified into two i.e. acute stress and chronic stress. Pascoe, Hetrick & Parker (2019) contend that the different kinds of stress have significant impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals. Stress has been found to have profound impacts on the physical and mental health or wellbeing of individuals.

According to Pascoe, Hetrick & Parker (2019), young people, especially those in secondary schools and higher learning institutions, report high levels of stress. This is primarily because students face a series of ongoing normative stressors in the learning environment. Similarly, Alborzkouh et al. (2015) argue that challenges during education can become sources of stress among students and endanger their health in a manner that affects their learning abilities. Hailu (2020) states that stress is one of the leading threats to the academic performance of college students throughout the world. The high levels of stress among this population are attributable to the fact that they are undergoing an important transitory period. Since college students are undergoing transition from adolescence to adulthood, they are predisposed to ongoing normative stressors, especially from the learning environment.

The development of effective stress management behaviors and techniques is essential to promote the health and wellbeing of college students and improve their academic outcomes. Boke et. al (2019) notes that high levels of stress combined with limited health coping mechanisms force college students to turn to external resources like alcohol and drugs to deal with stress. College students relatively struggle to identify suitable stress management techniques, which forces them to turn to external resources like substance abuse. Even though evidence-based stress reduction/management techniques exist, they are rarely used by college students (Bistricky et al., 2017). Additionally, there is limited empirical evidence on the impact of stress management techniques on reduction of academic-related stress among college students.

Alborzkouh et al. (2015) state that stress management training has been found to be an effective strategy in lessening academic-related stress among college students. This strategy is regarded as effective since it enhances stress management skills among these students. Through stress management training, students obtained skills that enhance their vitality, positive psychological states, and mental wellbeing. On the contrary, Boke et al. (2019) contend that more efforts toward integrating programming on healthy coping are essential to lessen academic-related stress among college students. Bistricky et. al (2017) suggests that lessening stress among college students requires a combination of measures such as providing students information, providing opportunities for peer discussions, and fostering the impact of stress reduction technique practice.

Limitations of the Selected Studies

These studies provide significant insights regarding the high levels of stress and stress management techniques among college students. However, these studies have some limitations relating to the phenomenon under investigation. The five studies fail to demonstrate how the different stress management behaviors or techniques impact academic-related stress among college students. The studies do not explicitly show the link between current stress management behaviors/techniques and academic-related stress. The lack of clarity on the link between these two variables contributes to the challenges in the application of these stress management techniques in the learning setting.

Boke et al. (2019) limit their study to coping patterns relating to substance abuse among college students. The study primarily focuses on substance abuse as an unhealthy coping mechanism for dealing with academic-related stress among college students. Bistricky et al. (2017) suggest various techniques and approaches that schools can use to enhance stress reduction among students. However, these researchers fail to demonstrate how the suggested strategies will help address academic-related stress in schools. On the other hand, Pascoe, Hetrick & Parker (2019) limit their study to the impact of stress on students’ health and wellbeing as well as their academic performance. The study does not focus on stress management, but discusses the short- and long-term impacts of stress on secondary school and college students. While Alborzkouh et al. (2015) demonstrate the impact of stress management training on academic-related stress, the study does not provide details on what constitutes the training. Hailu (2020) examines the practice of stress management behaviors on college students, but does not discuss the impact of these behaviors.

In conclusion, as evident in the limitations of the selected studies, there is a gap in existing literature on the effect of stress management behaviors/techniques on academic-related stress among college students. Existing literature shows that college students are predisposed to high levels of stress due to the challenges and demands of education. The high levels of stress affect their physical and mental health to an extent that they interfere with learning abilities and academic performance. Therefore, promoting effective stress management among college students is increasingly critical for better health outcomes and improved academic performance. Numerous stress management techniques or behaviors have been developed across different disciplines, particularly in the healthcare field. However, the impact of these techniques among college students and on academic-related stress remains unknown. By examining this issue, the study will help address the gap in existing literature and help improve stress management among college students.