College student stress: the influence of interpersonal relationships on sense of coherence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate college student stress, how students cope with stress, and how the stress of renegotiating self and relationships influences one's sense of coherence (SOC). A survey research design was utilized incorporating 596 college students. Using family stress theory, this study examined how stress associated with relationships, level of coping, physical and emotional reactions to stress, and quality of life can be integrated to predict SOC in male and female college students. Findings indicate that female college students experience greater stress from quality of friendships, love relationships and relationships with parents. Whereas emotional health had the greatest effect on SOC for females, family relationships had the greatest effect on SOC for males. Qualitative responses were also examined, providing insight into students' perceptions of stressors. Conclusions and implications for educators, researchers and family therapists are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Application of Salutogenesis in Universities

“…There are a number of research papers that explore salutogenesis, in particular individual-level sense of coherence, and its relationship to stress and mental well-being in university staff (Bezuidenhout & Cilliers, 2011;Kinman, 2008)-and other that focus on students' sense of coherence and its relationship to both physical and/or mental health (Anderson Darling, McWey, Howard, & Olmstead, 2007;Kuuppelomäki & Utriainen, 2003;von Bothmer & Fridlund, 2003). However, while these provide insights into the experiences of staff and students at universities, they are not directly related to the concept of the 'Healthy University' and neither engage with nor reflect an understanding of ecological whole system thinking.…”

An examination of the relationship between sense of coherence, engagement in health behaviors, and individual coping style.

“…Darling et al (2007) investigated the stress experiences of college students and evaluated the relationship between SOC and various sources of relational stress. They used four Likert-scale questions to assess the level of stress experienced from friendships, love relationships, parents, and other family members.…”

“…They used four Likert-scale questions to assess the level of stress experienced from friendships, love relationships, parents, and other family members. Darling et al (2007) found that SOC had a significant negative association with all four stressors for women (friendships: r = -0.42, love relationships: r = -0.37, parents: r = -0.29, and family: r = -0.21, p = ≤ 0.05), and a significant negative association for three out of the four stressors (friendships: r = -0.37, love relationships: r = -0.26, and parents: r = -0.26, p ≤ 0.05) (Darling, McWey, Howard, & Olmstead, 2007).…”

“…Overall, based on the results from several studies, a strong SOC appears to protect people from the physical and psychological damages from stress, directly through the perceptual mechanism of determining the meaning of a stressor and indirectly through the more frequent use of problem-solving coping strategies and the less frequent use of emotion-focused coping strategies (Amirkhan & Greaves, 2003;Darling et al, 2007;"Innocents Abroad? Student Health Behaviors Overseas," 2004;McSherry & Holm, 1994;Skirka, 2000;Smith & Meyers, 1997 positively associated with social competence at school, and relations with parents and negatively associated with reported social problems.…”

“…In general, students who report higher levels of stress tend to report more health inhibiting behaviors and a lower GPA. According to research, college students scoring high in SOC report fewer problems with finances, making friends, living conditions, parents and academic classes when compared with students scoring lower in SOC (Darling et al, 2007;J. P. Grayson, 2007).…”