Psychosocial Stress, Physical Symptoms, and Anxiety in Greek Students

Abstract

Specific stressor events may be a function of variables such as age, sex, marital status, and urban-rural differences. Psychosocial stress as measured by a Greek adaptation of the Schedule of Recent Experiences was studied in relation to physical symptoms, manifest anxiety, and social desirability in 138 Greek university students. Psychosocial stress was found to be related to physical symptoms and manifest anxiety only in females. The types of stressor events of the students were different from those of a sample of older Greek teachers. The implications of the findings for Greek culture are discussed.

Stress, coping and psychological illness: A cross-cultural study.

“…Considerable cultural differences in stress and psychological symptoms were observed between Hong Kong Chinese and Euro-Canadian university students (Dyal & Chan, 1985). In a study of Greek university students (Georgas & Giakoumaki, 1988), psychosocial stress was found to be related to physical symptoms and manifest anxiety only in women. The university students differed significantly in their appraisal of stressor events compared to older Greek teachers.…”

Examining the Relationship Between Distance Learning Processes and University Students’ Anxiety in Times of Covid19

“…In an older study in Greece, Georgas and his associates (1984) focused on the effects of stress and anxiety of potentially stressful events in Greece on psychosomatic and psychological reactions. Regarding college students, psychosocial stress was related to physical symptoms and manifested anxiety only in females (Georgas & Giakoumaki, 1988). Findings by Kounenou and associates (2005) reported that students' general anxiety level revealed differences between males and females in terms of trait anxiety, whereas female students scored higher than males in trait anxiety.…”