An Analytical Investigation Of Academic Stress And Mental Health Among College Students In Higher Education
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Abstract
The issue of academic stress has become an important one among college students, since it is caused by high academic standards, exam pressure, heavy workloads and future career uncertainty, all of which may have a harmful effect on students' psychological state. The purpose of this research paper is to estimate the level of academic stress of students, to consider their mental health and to explore the connection between academic stress and mental health of students in higher education institutions. The research design used in this study was quantitative, descriptive and analytical. It included the cross-sectional survey method. Primary data were obtained from 150 undergraduate and graduate students of different programs by means of a structured questionnaire based on the five-point Likert scale. The collected data were processed through IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 26.0) by using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. As the result of the conducted research, it was found that there was a high level of academic stress among college students, where exam pressure, academic workload and assignment deadline were recognized as the main sources of stress. Besides, the respondents reported moderate to high level of mental health problems, including academic anxiety, emotional exhaustion, difficulties concentrating and sleeping problems. According to the results of correlation analysis, there was a significant negative correlation between academic stress and mental health, whereas, according to the results of regression analysis, academic stress turned out to be the significant predictor of students' psychological state. The research paper shows that the excessive academic stress has a harmful influence on the mental health of college students.
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