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

Abstract

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.

The Impact of Long-Term Disruptions on Academic Success in Higher Education and Best Practices to Help Students Overcome Them

“…Stress has been reported as the foremost barrier to academic success (Benson et al, 2021). Students already have a higher level of stress than other populations (Eskin et al, 2016), and long-term college disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have further increased that level of stress (Barbayannis et al 2022, Son et al 2020. Clabaugh et al (2021) found that in addition to the emotional impact of COVID-19, students also experience increased stress from an unfamiliar online learning environment.…”

A qualitative investigation of stressful life events and mental health disorders: The views of patients and caregivers in Bangladesh

“…For example, a survey of university students in the UK indicated that loneliness, academic stressors, psychosocial issues, and a sense of coherence were the most potent predictors of mental wellbeing [16]. Another study in the USA found that academic stress led to the poor mental wellbeing of college students, particularly white and South Asian students, and the situation worsened further during COVID-19 [17]. In addition to the academic workload through emergency online learning, with growing academic uncertainty, increased sedentary behavior together with household responsibilities, particularly during financial hardship, may lead to potentially stressful life experiences and may increase the susceptibility to growing depression and anxiety among young adults [6,[18][19][20], including early married adolescents [21].…”

“…Although the reasons leading to mental health issues among young adults during the pandemic are relatively well documented in Bangladesh [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and elsewhere [10][11][12]19,20,22]; to the best of our knowledge, there is a shortage of empirical studies tracing back the reasons for mental health problems in general, particularly the individualized issues that are causing psychological problems and disrupting their lives [19]. Studies conducted in other countries have identified some predictors that may have negatively impacted young individuals' mental conditions [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Hence, the current study aims to explore the underlying causes of mental disorders among young adults in Bangladesh in order to advocate timely solutions for young adults experiencing mental health problems to assure uninterrupted educational progress and to minimize negative academic and psychosocial outcomes through institutional interventions [19,20].…”

From Academic Resilience to Academic Burnout among International University Students during the Post-COVID-19 New Normal: An Empirical Study in Taiwan

“…Psychological and emotional demands are the core components of the JD-R model of burnout, which are linked with strain and exhaustion [ 30 ]. In higher education, anxiety and depression have been proven to cause harmful emotional load [ 31 , 32 ]. Among resources, perceived possibility of personal growth and development, control, information, feedback, and support of lecturers are included as important components of the JD-R model [ 30 ].…”