Measuring the Impact of a Weeklong Fall Break on Stress Physiology in First Year Engineering Students

Abstract

Canadian post-secondary institutions are increasingly introducing a fall break into their term calendars, with the stated goal of reducing student stress and improving academic success. We conducted a pilot study around the time of this fall break during which we collected saliva samples to measure the ratio of two metabolic hormones (cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) from first-year male engineering students in order to document possible changes in their stress levels before and after the break. Participants self-identified a particular day in the week prior to the break that they considered to be most stressful, followed by a day in the week after the break that was perceived to be equally stress-inducing. A control sample of student engineers was recruited from another university with equivalent academic rigour but without a fall break. Students who experienced the fall break exhibited a marginally lower ratio of cortisol to DHEA after the break than did those who did not experience the break indicating a difference in psychological stress. Since fall breaks are now increasing in popularity, we make the recommendation that it is imperative to empirically investigate their impact on student mental health. Un nombre de plus en plus grand d’établissements post-secondaires introduisent un congé d’automne dans leur calendrier, avec l’objectif déclaré de réduire le stress des étudiants et d’améliorer la réussite académique. Nous avons mené une étude pilote aux alentours de ce congé d’automne au cours duquel nous avons recueilli des échantillons de salive auprès d’étudiants mâles de première année en génie afin de mesurer le ratio de deux hormones métaboliques (le cortisol et la déhydroépiandrostérone - la DHEA)) et pour documenter les changements possibles dans leurs niveaux de stress avant et après le congé. Les participants ont identifié eux-mêmes un jour spécifique de la semaine avant le congé qu’ils considéraient comme étant le plus stressant, suivi par un jour particulier de la semaine après le congé qu’ils percevaient comme étant aussi stressant. Un échantillon témoin d’étudiants en génie a été recruté dans une autre université où la rigueur académique était équivalente mais où il n’y avait pas de congé d’automne. Les étudiants qui ont bénéficié d’un congé d’automne ont manifesté un ratio plus bas de cortisol par rapport à la DHEA après le congé par rapport aux étudiants qui n’avaient pas bénéficié d’un tel congé, ce qui indique une différence de stress psychologique. Étant donné que la popularité des congés d’automne est en augmentation, nous recommandons qu’il est impératif d’établir empiriquement leur impact sur la santé mentale des étudiants.

Fall Break Fallout: Exploring Student Perceptions of the Impact of an Autumn Break on Stress

“…Certainly, students in our focus groups reported that they appreciated having the fall break as an opportunity to reduce stress, rest, and recover from a hectic start to the school year. At first consideration, this finding seems paradoxical in light of longitudinal survey results from the broader student population at our institution (see Poole, Khan, & Agnew, 2017;Poole, Khan, & Agnew, 2018;Khan, Poole, & Beaton, 2018), which revealed that perceived stress was significantly higher after the break than before it. However, discussions with focus group participants revealed underlying reasons for this and provided critical context regarding the student experience that was not available from more quantitative measures.…”

“…Given the increasing adoption of fall breaks, it is critical to investigate the broader impact and the efficacy of this as a stress-reduction intervention, so as to support the development of evidence-based policy in higher education. As such, we are a multi-institutional team of researchers examining the effect of the fall break on undergraduate students in an interdisciplinary fashion: by administering validated perceived stress scales and questionnaires exploring undergraduate stress (Poole, Khan, & Agnew, 2018), by assessing physiological indicators of stress in students (Khan, Poole, & Beaton, 2018), and by conducting semi-structured focus groups with students. The qualitative branch of the study (presented here) is particularly critical for fostering a deeper understanding of the experiences that students have surrounding the fall break (Schonfeld & Farrell, 2009).…”

Stressing in the Fall: Effects of a Fall Break on Undergraduate Students

“…As such, the validity of these measures may be limited, for example, by inconsistent interpretations of valence statements (e.g., what constitutes "good" health), socially desirable responses (e.g., over-reporting frequency of exercise), or failures in memory. We have developed a protocol that may allow for validation of self-reported stress through tracking physiological correlates of stress (Khan, Poole, & Beaton, 2018).…”

The Fall Pause: An Overview of the Current Canadian University Landscape and a Review of the Related Emerging Literature

“…While Cramer and Pschibul (2017) may have found that perceived stress levels for those students who attended to coursework during the Fall Pause were lower when they returned (and, again, this was not the case for those who recreated and/or procrastinated), Khan et al (2018) and Poole et al (2017Poole et al ( , 2018 found that all students (i.e., those who did schoolwork and those who recreated) experienced marginally lower levels of stress upon their return (compared to those who did not have a Fall Pause). So, it is important to recognize that though there is some agreement here within the limited available literature, there also remains some disagreement.…”

“…More specifically, we are suggesting that an additional degree of skeptical caution might be in order when considering the limited number of journals from which these articles are located. Additionally, three of these studies (Khan et al, 2018;Poole et al, 2017Poole et al, , 2018 are from the same researchers and are seemingly related to the same research project. If these three studies are viewed in this way (i.e., as one), there remains even less literature to consider.…”