Thesis advisor: Celeste Wells / It has been identified that academic stress is an issue plaguing college undergraduates across the country. A significant amount of academic stress can have a negative impact on both the physical and mental state of the individual. Six elements were identified as contributing to the make up of an individual’s stress profile and as a result, influenced the subsequent impact that academic stress may have on their daily life. Those elements included the following; definitions of stress, reactions to stress, timing, organizational strategies, support group and peer opinions. While the abundance of academic stress observed throughout colleges and universities is discouraging, its prevalence provides a large amount of data. By identifying the factors that contribute to the severity of academic stress, the avenues to a solution were identified as well. This study surveyed 16 participants at a large, private institution known for its academic rigor and competitive undergraduate environment thus rendering it an ideal setting for a study focused on academic stress. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Communication.

Stress can lead to poor health and loss of productivity among employees across occupations. Stress does not only affect individuals but also organizations by causing work absence and staff turnover. Academics in Malaysian public universities are no exception. Due to the rapid developments in tertiary education, academics in Malaysian public universities are believed to be experiencing increased job demands that potentially lead to increased stress. This study was carried out to examine: i) the direct effect of role stressors (i.e. role overload, role ambiguity and role conflict) on strain; ii) the direct effect of strain on the outcomes of strain (i.e. cynicism, professional efficacy, and organizational commitment); iii) the moderation effects of organizational support, peer support, and self-efficacy on the relationships between role stressors and strain; iv) the mediation effect of strain on the relationship between role stressors and strain; and v) the mediation effect of outcomes of strain (i.e. cynicism, professional efficacy, and organizational commitment) on the relationship between strain and intention to leave among those academics. This study used a non-experimental two-wave panel design. Eleven of the 12 study variables were measured using pre-existing scales except for self-efficacy, iii which was measured by items specially developed for this study. A longitudinal survey with a six-month time interval yielded 357 respondents (academics) at time 1 and 210 respondents at time 2. Data were analyzed using multiple regression, hierarchical regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test for direct effects, moderation effects and mediation effects respectively. The findings of this study indicate that academics who experienced increased levels of role stressors were more likely to have increased levels of strain. Subsequently, the strained academics were more likely to show higher levels of cynicism and lower levels of professional efficacy and organizational commitment. The predicted moderators (i.e organizational support, peer support, and self-efficacy) had no significant influence on the relationships between role stressors and strain. Mediation analyses consisted of two parts. In the first part, I found that strain strongly mediated the relationship between role ambiguity and outcomes of strain (i.e. cynicism, professional efficacy, and organizational commitment). In the subsequent mediation analysis, I found that cynicism and organizational commitment fully mediated the relationship between strain and intention to leave, but not professional efficacy.

Premenstrual symptoms are a universal event during a woman's reproductive life but little is known about the experience of emerging adulthood women aged 18-25 years. The purpose of this study was to determine feasibility of daily symptom data collection via an electronic diary and to examine the relationship between premenstrual symptom perception, severity and distress with academic stress. This sample consisted of 50 women with a mean age of 20(±.9) years living in campus housing of a private undergraduate rural college. Results determined it is feasible to utilize an electronic diary for daily prospective symptom and academic demand data collection. Surprisingly, in this sample of healthy undergraduate women, there were significantly higher numbers of symptoms perceived (7.16±3.8 follicular and 6.18±3.3 luteal, p=.001 and higher distress (.39±.3 follicular and .31±.3 luteal, p=.003) in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase. Academic stress findings indicated mild stress as measured by the Student-life Stress Inventory (Gadzella, 1991) and students overall perceived stress levels fell in the minimal to mild range. The academic demand component of academic stress measured daily frequency and distress associated with assignments, papers, projects/presentation and time studying. Within the follicular phase number of assignments due was significantly correlated to symptom perception and distress (.31, .37, respectively) and the number of projects/presentations due was correlated to symptom distress (.25) at p<.05. There were significant correlations between follicular phase symptom perception and distress, and luteal phase symptom distress with academic demand distress for assignments, papers, projects/presentations and time studying, indicating a relationship between distress components of symptom experience and some components of academic stress. These premier results about the relationship between symptom distress and academic stress warrants further exploration and development of a clearer conceptual definition of academic stress and clear and consistent operationalization of this phenomena.

Den rollstress som uppkommer i bristen på koppling mellan teori och praktik har varit underlag för studier av studenter på flera utbildningsprogram. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka beteendevetarstudenter på Mälardalens högskola, med fokus på deras upplevelser av att utbildningen inte leder till en specifik yrkesroll. Kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes med 15 beteendevetarstudenter. Analysens meningskoncentrering genererade tre teman, ambivalens och stärkt initiativförmåga upplevde 15 studenter och svårigheter att omsätta teorin i praktik uppfattades av 14 studenter. Ambivalensen gällde utbildningens bredd som både skapade möjligheter men samtidigt bidrog till en otydlighet inför framtida yrkesroller. Stärkt initiativförmåga handlade om att studenterna lärt sig skapa egna erfarenheter i brist på praktik. Svårigheter att omsätta teorin i praktiken gällde att de saknade kopplingen mellan studier och arbetsliv. Inför framtida studier uppmanas det att jämföra beteendevetarstudenter från andra högskolor där det finns praktik och jämföra resultatet för att se om praktiken tillför ytterligare färdigheter.

Researchers point to the fact that stress and anxiety among college students are a

Thesis advisor: Robert J. Starratt / This qualitative case study focused on what the researcher learned as a participant-observer during the planning and implementation stages of the Stress Reduction Committee's work to examine and address an academic stress problem at Jewel-on-the-Hill High School. The observations illuminated the various perspectives individuals carried on the naming of the stress problem, how they overcame challenges in the work, the new learnings they developed, and the results the initiative created. The study examined the scope and complexity of the stress issue, the importance of distributed leadership and coordinated school change, and the challenges of shifting the culture of a school. Five instruments were utilized to collect data in this ethnographic descriptive case study: pre-intervention interviews, participant reflective journaling, results of the Stress Reduction Committee, researcher reflective journaling, and post-intervention interviews. The researcher collected data over the course of a fourteen-month period. Findings were many, and included how there existed differences and consistencies both within the sample and between subsamples. The influence of time on the initiative and the study produced additional findings. Themes developed across each of the first three research questions (the naming of the stress problem, the challenges the committee faced, and the new learnings of the committee). The role and actions taken by the participant-observer as he led the stress initiative provided additional findings. Implications for practice included advice for school leaders in taking on a school culture initiative, such as how to best lead a representative committee and how to organize the fruitful outputs of the group. Advice was also provided to parents and to students on how to best cope with academic stress and increase their locus of control over their life situation. Limitations of this study included potential leadership bias due to the researcher's role as principal of the school. Other limitations included site, time, and instrumentation biases. The researcher made efforts to control for biases in order to increase the validity and reliability of the study. The dissertation concluded with the lessons learned by the participant-observer in regards to his own leadership capacity. The study and initiative led to substantial professional growth for the researcher. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of academic stress in determining grade differences of reading motivation. A total of 496 elementary students in Kaohsiung City were administrated by a questionnaire assessing academic stress, academic and extracurricular reading motivations. Participants were classified into low, middle, or high graders. The final exam was used to manipulate change of academic stress. Students¡¦ academic stress decreased as their grades increased. Academic stress was positively correlated with reading motivation in both academic and extracurricular reading domains. Further, the effect of academic stress on academic reading motivation was in accordance with that on extracurricular reading motivation. Together the findings seem to indicate that academic stress play a crucial role in determining the relationship between grades of elementary students and reading motivation. Specifically, a decreased reading motivation as grades increased stems from the descending tendencies of academic stress. Finally, the primary findings were discussed and educational implications were provided.

Media reports and interviews with counselors indicate that academic stress and adolescent distress is a significant problem in India, but little systematic research has been conducted on the issue. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used in the current study - surveys assessed the prevalence of academic stress and adolescent distress, and interviews with 12th standard students explored their perceptions of the issue and their understanding of the role of parents.In the survey part of the study, the prevalence of the problem was assessed with the use of scales that measured depression and anxiety. Surveys were completed by 12th standard students (n = 588) from the south Indian city of Chennai. A majority of students reported that they were stressed by the coming school year, and rates of depression and anxiety were very high in the sample. In contrast with previous research and contrary to expectations, few gender, academic track and school type differences were found. Further analyses indicated that different groups of students appeared to experience distress in different ways.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12th standard students (n = 24) to explore their perceptions of academic stress and adolescent distress. Their perceptions could be categorized into six themes: busy schedules, experience of stress, somatic symptoms, attitudes and beliefs about 12th standard, the role of God vs. hard work, and education reform. The same interview data was also used to understand the role of parents. Analysis suggested that parents were involved in their child's education in five ways - they had specific expectations for achievement, they put pressure on their children, they compared their child to others, they controlled the study environment, and they were supportive of their children. Some categories appeared to be associated with a greater experience of academic stress and adolescent distress than others. The interview data was also explored for gender, academic track, and school type differences.Jointly, these findings suggest that academic stress and adolescent distress is indeed a significant problem in Chennai, India. A variety of interventions are suggested to address the issue.

La presente investigación fue un estudio transversal de tipo correlacional que tuvo como objetivo estudiar la relación entre el clima social escolar y estrés académico en estudiantes de primero de secundaria de colegios estatales de la ciudad de Lima. La muestra estuvo conformada por 320 escolares de 11 a 15 años de edad, de los cuales 49.4 % son mujeres y el 50.6 % son varones. Los instrumentos de evaluación empleados fueron el inventario de Clima Escolar Social - Reducido (Gómez, 2009) y la escala de SISCO del estrés académico (Barraza, 2007). Dentro de los resultados se halló una correlación directa muy débil entre la dimensión trabajo de aula que pertenece al clima social escolar con la dimensión síntomas que forma parte del estrés académico. También, se encontró una correlación inversa muy débil entre la dimensión trabajo de aula (variable clima social escolar) con estrategias de afrontamiento (variable estrés académico). Por último, en un análisis comparativo se encontraron diferencias significativas entre estrategias de afrontamiento del estrés académico según sexo, donde las mujeres presentan mayores estrategias de afrontamiento para reducir los síntomas del estrés académico. / This investigation was a cross-sectional study of a correlational type that aimed to study the relationship between the school social climate and academic stress in students of first year of secondary state schools in the city of Lima. The sample compromised of 320 schoolchildren aged from 11-15 years of which 49.4% are women and 50.6% are men. The evaluation tools used were the social school climate reduced inventory (Gomez 2009) and the SISCO scale of academic stress (Barraza 2007). Within the results, a very weak, direct correlation was found between the classroom work dimension pertaining to the social climate and the symptoms dimension which is a part of academic stress. Also, a very weak inverse correlation was found between classroom work dimension (school social climate variable) with coping strategies (academic stress variable). Finally, in a comparative analysis, significant differences were found between coping strategies for academic stress according to sex, where women have greater coping strategies to reduce the symptoms of academic stress. / Tesis

The academic demands of college can be strenuous. Nontraditional students in particular may be at risk for role conflict and overload. This study examines levels of academic stressors and reactions to stressors between traditional and nontraditional undergraduate college students in order to investigate the relationships between academic stress, time management behaviors and overall psychological adjustment between the two groups. Participants completed Gadzella's (1991) Student-Life Stress Inventory, Time Management Behaviors Scale (Macan, Shahani, Dipboye, & Phillips, 1990) and the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (Derogatis, 1994). Results reveal significant differences between traditional and nontraditional students on a subscale of the Time Management Behavior Scale measuring the ability to set goals and prioritize. Additionally, a marginally significant difference between traditional and nontraditional students was found on another subscale of the Time Management Behavior Scale measuring the mechanics of time management. These results indicate students who maintain multiple life-roles and responsibilities in addition to their role of college student are better at identifying and setting goals that need to be accomplished and prioritizing the tasks required to meet these goals. Furthermore, these students may be more adept at the mechanics involved with time management such as making list and scheduling activities in advance.