My third and final assignment for Writing 5 was a research essay. This particular assignment was challenging because it was so open-ended: we were given the freedom to pursue any topic pertaining to learning that we found interesting. It was difficult to pin down a topic and narrow down the broad range of sources available.
Mediating the Effects of Academic Stress on Mental Health of College Students
Introduction
Challenges are necessary aspects of education and life. As stress is an inevitable response to challenges, a critical issue in post-secondary education is understanding the effects on student learning. There is significant evidence that university students experience exorbitant levels of anxiety, which has adverse impacts on student wellness. Colleges should recognize the factors that are affected by stress and strengthen the support systems for students to mediate these consequences.
What Is Stress?
The level of stress depends on an individual’s perception of their ability to cope with a situation. The Yerkes-Dodson Law postulates that anxiety can influence a student’s learning in a positive or negative way. This law states that “individuals under low and high stress learn the least and that those under moderate stress learn the most” (Whitman et al. 1985; Kumaraswamy 2013). Certain amounts of hardship motivate students to strive for success. For students who view their education as a surmountable challenge, pressure increases capability and willingness to learn. Issues arise when the strain of a rigorous workload coupled with social anxieties impede a student’s learning. Stress inhibits learning when students worry that they are not able to meet the demands placed upon them and view education as a threat (Misra and McKean 2000; Schafer 1996; Abouserie 1994). While stress comes with being a college student, excessive levels hinder students’ performance and development of self-sufficiency.
Emotional and Psychological Consequences
Educational systems should focus on minimizing stress because it has a tremendous impact on a student’s wellness. Stress can evoke emotional, cognitive, behavioral, or physiological responses. Not only are anxiety and depression rampant on college campuses, individuals under high pressure are “more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors” and “experience dissatisfaction with life factors that contribute to self-esteem” (Robotham 2008). Behaviors such as increased alcohol consumption and smoking serve as hazardous coping mechanisms which only perpetuate discontent. Because anxiety is associated with exposure to new temptations, the consequences of stress are heightened during the transition from home to university (Abouserie 1994; Fisher 1994; Robotham 2008). A vicious cycle is born: stress encourages students to engage in unhealthy behavior, which then feeds anxiety.
Mental health problems have proliferated on college campuses in recent years (Phippen 1995; Stanley et al. 2001; Andrews et al. 2004). Researchers concede that “severe mental illness is more common among college students than it was a decade ago” (Kumaraswamy 2013), attributing this to the fact that college students today face greater academic demands. As society continues to progress, expectations on college students rise and the pressure to succeed mounts. Students struggle with the balancing act required to attain the “well-rounded” status that society deems as successful. In addition to maintaining exceptional grades, students are expected to volunteer, participate in countless extracurriculars, hold leadership positions, and have work experience in their field of interest. Amassing these qualifications in just four years and fulfilling the desire to have “the best four years of your life” has resulted in a steep increase in stress for college students. By identifying the barrage of responsibilities and toxic amounts of pressure to thrive, researchers support their claim that stressed college students suffer devastating emotional and psychological consequences (Abouserie 1994; Phippen 1995; Stanley et al. 2001; Andrews et al. 2004; Kumaraswamy 2013). Is education worth sacrificing your health for?
Impact on Academic Performance
In addition to affecting student wellness, stress has an adverse impact on performance in the classroom. According to a study cited by Robotham, there is a “significant correlation between stress and poor academic performance” (Robotham 2008). When stress diminishes a student’s mental health and ability to learn, higher education inhibits rather than cultivates growth in students. Academic-induced anxiety increases a student’s likelihood of exhibiting learning problems such as difficulty concentrating in class, staying on task, and moving from one activity to another. In addition to negatively impacting student participation, a frayed mental state affects an individual’s ability to interact with peers, causing internal and external problems. Stressed students are more likely to act impulsively and disturb the classroom, struggle with forming friendships and expressing feelings, and suffer from loneliness and low self-esteem (Abouserie 1994; Schafer 1996; Robotham 2008). In the face of this host of effects, students become disenchanted with the idea of learning. Again, there is a pattern: stress causes students to perform poorly in the classroom, which then increases frustration and disillusionment. Disengaging from learning defeats the purpose of post-secondary education, which is to foster intellectual, social, and civic development.
Methods to Combat Stress
Individuals’ perceptions of stress are unique, meaning the factors that affect this phenomenon vary across the board. Researchers emphasize the idea that it is “an individual’s perception and interpretation of the demands placed upon them that causes harm, not the demands themselves” (Lazarus 1999; Ross et al. 1999; Robotham 2008). Thus, stress does not have a single solution. Rather, college administrations must account for a variety of factors to effectively downplay the impacts of pressure on psychological wellbeing. Ranjita Misra and Michelle McKean investigated the relationship between variables of academic-induced stress, anxiety, time management behavior, and satisfaction from leisure activities. The results, collected from undergraduate students using self-administered questionnaires, revealed that there is a positive association between psychological problems and demands of education. This further supports the claim that stress has debilitating effects on wellness. This study also suggested that “using time management and anxiety reduction in conjunction with certain leisure activities” can reduce academic pressure (Misra and McKean 2000). The negative correlation between time management behaviors, leisure satisfaction activities, and stress implies that support systems should tackle students’ coping mechanisms rather than minimizing the demands. This focus on responses reduces the intense pressure of education without decreasing the quality.
Colleges can utilize knowledge on the interactions between these factors to work towards reducing the negative aspects of stress. Researchers recommend “providing students with a feeling of control over their education, information about what to expect, and feedback regarding what can be done to improve their performance” (Whitman et al. 1985). As stress stems from an individual’s belief that they do not have the resources to cope with a situation, providing outlets of positive reinforcement lend students confidence in their abilities. More importantly, actively reaching out to students instills the potent belief that the college truly cares for the wellbeing of its constituents.
Colleges can support students by initiating programs specifically designed to address this issue. Supporting students entails “provision of appropriate resources to enable individuals to deal with stress” (Robotham 2008). Colleges can facilitate or improve their campus mental health services and organize counseling and support groups. Counseling enables students to “perceive reality accurately and to accept this reality in order … to maintain and enhance personal and social functioning” (Kumaraswamy 2013). To reduce stress, services should promote effective time management and provide social support, positive reappraisal, and engagement in leisure pursuits (Misra and McKean 2000). Targeting these factors would equip students with the tools necessary to combat anxiety. These systems also serve as concrete reminders to people that they do not have to face the burden alone. Students are provided with the opportunity to connect with peers who are facing similar dilemmas and talk to experienced professionals who are willing to help. Based on my personal experience as a student at Dartmouth College, I also found that incorporating mindfulness training into the educational process can reduce stress and improve learning. Taking time to reflect, both introspectively through meditation and with others through counseling and support groups, allows students to mute the noise of their stressful lives and rejuvenate.
Colleges should also initiate workshops for teachers on identifying and addressing issues with stress and time. There is often a discrepancy between students’ perception of academic pressure and staff perceptions of students’ stress levels (Misra and McKean 2000; Robotham 2008). Ensuring that teachers feel motivated to actively minimize stress and are aware of how to identify psychological problems reinforces the college’s mental health service. This twofold approach of strengthening existing services and facilitating initiatives that specifically target instructors would provide a robust support system that lets students know that they are a priority.
Case Study: Dismiss Your School Anxieties (DYSA)
There are many examples of college programs that have effectively reduced stress. The Dismiss Your School Anxieties (DYSA) is a program which was successfully implemented in colleges in Holland, Germany, and Greece. DYSA utilizes discussion and meditation to promote awareness of stressors and coping mechanisms and to encourage students to support one another (Brown and Ralph 1999). This program helps students reduce immediate anxieties and prepare for future stress-evoking situations. Marie Brown and Sue Ralph evaluated the ability of DYSA to alleviate stress in first-years at the University of Manchester. The students touched on topics such as time management, self-organization, presentational skills, unrealistic beliefs about self and fear of failure, and the effects of financial situations. Afterwards, evaluations of the experience revealed that the students believed the program had taught them how to lessen their anxieties and improve their performance.
The support and training provided by DYSA enabled the students to tackle stress independently. DYSA promoted academic success by positively influencing “study skills, interpersonal skills and students’ awareness that they could control events” (Brown and Ralph 1999). Effective study skills can ease fear of failing examinations, a significant source of stress (Schafer 1996; Brown and Ralph 1999; Misra and McKean 2000). The ability to study effectively boosts confidence, allowing students to combat the effect of stress on self-esteem. Interpersonal skills relieve the anxiety of interacting with peers in an academic environment. As this is particularly relevant for first-years (Fisher 1994), DYSA could be a used to ease the transition to university life. Struggles with time management do not stem from “the management of time itself … but rather the individual’s perception of control over time” (Robotham 2008). By increasing students’ awareness that they can control events, DYSA promotes strong time management behaviors that reduce academic stress. These skills are critical for a positive learning experience that allows students to fully reap the benefits of education. The participants suggested that DYSA be incorporated into the University’s Welfare Service, supporting the notion that students appreciated efforts to reduce stress through initiatives.
Future of Student Stress Research
Although there is a significant body of research investigating stressed college students, there are features that should be modified in future studies. Robotham highlights the exclusive use of a “quantitative approach where participants complete a self-report inventory that claims to measure stress, well-being or stressors”. An emphasis on these measures may “intimidate the subjects”, who may “respond in a manner not reflecting their views” (Robotham 2008). In addition to the possibility of false information, this approach negates the individual variations in how and what students deem as stressful. I believe that there is a difference between reporting how you feel on paper and in person. Talking to someone face-to-face encourages sincerity because you feel like your response is valued. An impersonal survey leads participants to believe that their response is just another statistic. By sending out the same survey to x number of students, the focus is no longer on the students. Stress becomes a standardized, one-size-fits-all concept that is easily tested but does not account for the nuances that vary from person to person.
Instead, researchers should conduct qualitative studies that provide a “more subjective explanation of student stress in universities through in-depth interviews with individuals” (Robotham 2008). This research could be initiated in conjunction with the counseling services or peer support groups. Focusing on the personal aspect would enhance our current understanding of stressed students by providing insight into how different individuals perceive and cope with pressure in unique ways. This understanding would allow colleges to improve their flexibility in dealing with this complex issue. There is also a lack of longitudinal studies. Research should shift towards a long-term approach that tracks groups across the entire duration of their stay at college to develop understanding of “how individuals’ capacity to cope with stress changes across a sustained period of time” (Robotham 2008). Studying responses to pressures over longer periods of time would allow researchers to account for students’ development and its effects on ability to deal with hardships. Expanding past the self-report to focus on the details of personal experiences and attempting longitudinal studies in the future will enhance our knowledge of academic stress and improve colleges’ ability to address this issue.
Conclusion
While stress is a fundamental aspect of higher education institutions, it must be mediated. College should be educational and enjoyable, but not at the expense of wellness. Excessive pressure threatens students’ emotional and psychological health and ability to succeed academically. Stress is an incredibly difficult subject to comprehend and address, as it is related to a plethora of factors and varies from person to person. However, there are several methods that are proven to effectively ward off the unfavorable effects. Knowledge of the impacts academic stress has on mental health can be utilized to refine current support systems in colleges, improving the lives of billions of students and bolstering higher education systems around the world.
References
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Brown, M. & Ralph, S. (1999). Using the DYSA Programme to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in First-Year University Students. The Journal for Pastoral Care & Personal-Social Education. 8-13.
Fisher, S. (1994). Stress in academic life: The mental assembly line. Buckingham: Open University Press, The Society for Research into Higher Education.
Kumaraswamy N. (2013). Academic Stress, Anxiety and Depression among College Students- A Brief Review. International Review of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(1). 135-143.
Lazarus, R. (1999). Stress and emotion: A new synthesis. London: Free Association Books.
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Schafer, W. (1996). Stress Management for Wellness. (3rd ed.) Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
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