Biomedical & Pharmacology Journal

Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018)

Academic Stress and its Sources

among University Students
K. JAYASANKARA REDDY*, MS.KARISHMARAJANMENON and ANJANATHATTIL

Department of Psychology, Christ University, Bengaluru – 560 029, India.

*Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected]

http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bpj/1404

(Received: February 05, 2018; accepted: March 13, 2018)

ABSTRACT

Stress has become part of students’ academic life due to the various internal and external
expectations placed upon their shoulders. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the problems
associated with academic stress as transitions occur at an individual and social level. It therefore,
becomes imperative to understand the sources and impact of academic stress in order to derive
adequate and efficient intervention strategies. The study employed a quantitative research design
where participants were screened using Academic Stress Scale (Rajendran& Kaliappan,1991 from
four streams namely, commerce, management, humanities, and basic sciences. The five dimensions
of sources such as personal inadequacy, fear of failure, interpersonal difficulties with teachers, teacher
pupil relationship and inadequate study facilities were further analysed and gender differences were
also obtained. Understanding the sources of stress would facilitate the development of effective
counselling modules and intervention strategies by school psychologists and counsellors in order
to help students alleviate stress.

Keywords: Academic stress, Academic anxiety, Adolescents, Stressors, Sources of stress.

INTRODUCTION hour that commits suicide(Saha,2017). The bureau

registered 1.8% students who committed suicide due
For the longest time, people assumed that to failing in examinations and an 80% rise in suicide
the student population was the least affected by any rates during a one-year time frame. A 2012 Lancet
sort of stress or problems. Stress is now understood report also quoted that the 15-29 age group bracket
as a lifestyle crisis(Masih & Gulrez, 2006) affecting in India has the highest rate of suicide in the world
any individual regardless of their developmental (as cited in “India has the Highest Suicide Rate”,
stage(Banerjee & Chatterjee, 2016). The only task n.d.) and these numbers show no sign of dropping.
students were expected to undertake was to study
and studying was never perceived as stressful. What Academic stress has been identified
proved to be stressful was the expectations parents as the primary cause of these alarming figures.
had for their children, which in turn grew into larger Lee & Larson (2000) explain this stress as an
burdens that these children could not carry anymore. interaction between environmental stressors,
According to the statistics published by National student’s appraisal and reactions for the same. It
Crime Records Bureau, there is one student every has now become a grave reality that is termed as a

This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted Non Commercial use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Published by Oriental Scientific Publishing Company © 2018
532 REDDY et al., Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018)

“career stopper” (Kadapatti & Vijayalaxmi, 2012). It These differences would be seen in the causes,
therefore,becomes a significant cause of concern as sources and consequences of stressors. Some
it is symptomatic of rising mental health concerns in of the common stressors reported in an academic
India (Nadamuri & Ch,2011). setting include excessive assignments, poor time
management and social skills, peer competition,
Depression, anxiety, behavioural problems, etc. (Fairbrother & Warn, 2003). These results are
irritability, etc. are few of the many problems reported consistent with studies conducted in India as well
in students with high academic stress(Deb, Strodl& as reported by Sreeramareddy, Shankar, Binu,
Sun, 2015;Verma, Sharma & Larson, 2002). Mukopadhyay, Ray & Menezes (2007).
Incidences of depression were also found among
stressful adolescents as it is linked with inability to Other individual specific factors include
concentrate, fear of failure, negative evaluation of problems in financial management, changes in
future, etc. (Busari, 2012).Adolescents were also living atmosphere, difficulties managing personal
reported to be indulging in various risky behaviours and academic life, etc. (Byron, Brun & Ivers, 2008;
such as increased consumption of alcohol and drugs, Chernomas & Shapiro, 2013; Goff, 2011; Jimenez,
unprotected sexual activities, physical inactivity, poor Navia-Osorio & Diaz, 2010; Moscaritolo, 2009).
eating and sleeping patterns (American College
Health Association, 2009; Bennet & Holloway, 2014; The educational system also plays an
King, Vidourek& Singh, 2014). The pressure these enabling role subsequently leading to increased
students face to perform is so severe resulting in stress levels experienced by students. Some of
five-fold increase in suicide attempts. the sources include overcrowded lecture halls,
semester grading system, inadequate resources
It becomes imperative to also understand and facilities (Awing& Agolla, 2008), vastness of
that low stress does not necessarily ascertain syllabus (Agrawal &Chahar, 2007; Sreeramareddy
that students will perform better, but in fact under et al., 2007), long hours and expectations of rote
these circumstances, they would perceive the task learning (Deb et al., 2015). Parents and institutions
as unchallenging and may also get easily bored relentlessly instill the fear of failure which affects
(Uchil, 2017). Though certain levels of stress push their self-esteem and confidence. Ang & Huan (2006)
students towards optimum performance, when reported increased expectations as one of the factors
it is not managed efficiently due to inadequate responsible for increased stress levels.
resources to cope with the stress, it can have
dismal consequences for the student as well as the Thus, as the sources of stress vary despite
institution. identical stress responses elicited by the body,
understanding the former will help develop tailor
The stress response elicited by every made interventions targeted to reduce stress levels
individual is identical regardless of the trigger of students, which will in turn contribute towards
causing. For example, marital stress, exam anxiety, holistic well-being of the individual.
work stress, etc. would elicit identical physiological
responses from the body. This happens primarily METHOD
due to the adreno-medullary system, which is part of
the sympathetic division of our nervous system and The main objective of the study was to find
the adrenocortical axis (Bourne & Yaroush, 2003) if there exists academic stress among students.
resulting in the “fight or flight” reaction. Some of the Further, this study was also conducted to understand
physiological changes that can be observed in the if there gender wise and stream wise differences
body are changes in heart rate(HR), blood pressure in academic stress reported by the participants.
(BP), respiratory rate, increased blood flow towards Differences in gender and stream were also noted
skeletal muscles, etc. in the different dimensions or sources of stress as
assessed by the Academic Stress Scale. It was
While the stress response may be identical, hypothesized that there exists significant gender
the sources of stress reported by individuals vary. differences and stream wise differences in academic
 REDDY et al., Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018) 533

stress. It was also hypothesized that the sources of students and the different sources that contributed
stress will also significantly vary among gender and to the same. Gender differences and stream wise
the different streams. differences in total academic stress were also
analysed. Data was collected from four academic
Participants for the study were selected from streams namely, commerce, humanities, science,
a general pool of students using random sampling and management. The students who responded to
technique where the classes were chosen based the questionnaire were currently in their final year of
on names picked out from a fish bowl. Informed undergraduate programme. The obtained data was
consent form and demographic profile sheet were subjected to appropriate statistical analysis and the
given to all the participants and the objectives of results are discussed in this session.
the study were explained. Academic Stress Scale
developed by Rajendran and Kaliappan(1991) was The total number of participants who were
used to understand the sources of stress. This subjected to the analysis procedures were 336. The
questionnaire was selected on the basis of previous mean of the sample on the total academic stress
results obtained during the pilot study of this project. score was 53.46(SD=25.70) as reflected in table 1.
It measures the sources of stress primarily on four Using the mean as cut-off for preliminary analysis
dimensions namely, personal inadequacy, fear of and interpretation, it was found that 48.80% of
failure, teacher pupil relationship, interpersonal students fall under the category of having average
difficulties, and inadequate study facilities. The to high stress levels.
approximate administration time was around 25
minutes. Incomplete forms and questionnaire were The second major objective was to find if
not included in the study. Results were then analyzed there are any significant gender differences in the
using SPSS v.21. total academic score obtained by the participants.
The total number of male and females were 162
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION and 174 with a mean score of 53.01(SD=26.75)
and 53.87(SD=24.75) respectively. According to
The main objectives of the study were to the independent samples t- test results indicated in
understand the level of academic stress faced by

Table 1: Showing mean and Table 2: Showing results of independent

standard deviation of sample on samples t test of the two groups, males and
academic stress females

N Mean Std. deviation Gender N Mean Std.Deviation Sig

336 53.46 25.70 Males 162 53.01 26.75 .317

Females 174 53.87 24.75

Tests of Between Subjects Effects

Variable levels F Sig

Multivariate analysis
Personal inadequacy .491 .484
Gender Value Sig Fear of failure 5.207 .023*
Gender Interpersonal difficulties 3.240 .073
Wilk’s Lambda .954 .008* Teacher pupil relationship .015 .902
Inadequate study facilities .006 .940
*p<0.05
*p<0.05
534 REDDY et al., Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018)

table 2, there exists no significant difference in total seen that the Humanities stream has reported the
academic stress experienced by males and females. least academic stress (Mean=47.97, SD=25.28) in
comparison to the others.
To understand if there are significant
differences in dimensions of academic stress Post-hoc analysis was also conducted
experienced by males and females, the data was to understand which of the streams significantly
subjected to multivariate test and the results are varied in total academic stress in comparison with
presented in table 3. the others. Results indicate that the Humanities
stream significantly differed in stress scores between
The results presented in table 3.a. and 3.b. Commerce and Management, p<0.05. There were
indicate that the scores obtained on the dimensions no significant differences found in stress score
of academic stress differed significantly (.954, reported by Humanities stream and Science Stream.
p<0.05) across the two groups, males and females. Results indicated significant difference in stress
Further analysis also revealed that it was the fear of scores between Commerce stream and Science
failure dimension that differed significantly F=5.207, stream as well, p<0.05.
p<0.05, with females reported to have higher scores
(Mean=12.29, SD=7.39) than males (Mean=10.53, To understand if there are stream
SD=6.70). differences in the dimensions of stress, the data
was subjected to multivariate tests and the results
The third major objective was to find whether are presented in table 5.
there exist significant stream wise differences in
academic stress. The data was subjected to ANOVA Results presented in table 5.a. and 5.b.
test and results are presented in table 4. indicate that there were significant stream differences
(Value=4.084, p<0.1)across the different dimensions
It can be observed from table 4.a., 4.b., and of stress as assessed by the questionnaire. Further
4.c. that there was a significant difference in academic analysis indicate that the significant differences
stress F=4.926, p<0.05 across the four streams with were shown in the dimensions personal inadequacy,
the Commerce stream reporting the highest stress interpersonal difficulties, teacher pupil relationship
(Mean=61.24, SD=21.34) in comparison to the and inadequate study facilities. Fear of failure was
Management stream (Mean=57.64, SD=24.27) and the only dimension that did not show any significant
Science stream(Mean=49.26, SD=28.57). It can be difference across streams which is in contrast to the
gender wise differences where it was observed that
fear of failure was the only significant dimension that
Descriptive statistics of academic stress score
varied with respect to gender.
across different streams

Stream N Mean Std. deviation

Humanities 93 47.97 25.28 Post-hoc analysis Tukey test for Multiple

Commerce 55 61.24 21.34 comparisons across different streams
Management 104 57.64 24.27
Science 84 49.26 28.57 Stream Comparison Sig

Humanities Commerce .012*

ANOVA
Management .038*
Science .986
Academic Stress F Sig
Commerce Management .829
Science .033*
Between groups 4.926 .002*
Management Science .109

*p<0.01
*p<0.05
 REDDY et al., Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018) 535

Results presented in table 5.c. denote

that there exist significant significant stream wise
Tests of Between Subjects Effects
differences in the different dimensions of academic
stress. The Humanities stream(Mean=10.92,
Variable levels F Sig

Multivariate analysis
Personal inadequacy 2.751 .043*
Stream Fear of failure 1.370 .252
Gender Wilk’s Lambda Value Sig
Interpersonal difficulties 10.425 .000*
Teacher pupil relationship 7.036 .000*
4.084 .000*
Inadequate study facilities 5.998 .001*

p<0.01
p<0.01

Post-hoc analysis of differences in dimension of academic stress across

different streams

Variable Stream Comparison Sig

Personal inadequacy Humanities Commerce .023*

Management .475
Science .510
Commerce Management .332
Science .381
Management Science 1.00
Fear of failure Humanities Commerce .304
Management .999
Science .924
Commerce Management .239
Science .652
Management Science .873
Interpersonal difficulties Humanities Commerce .087
Management .001*
Science .479
Commerce Management .875
Science .002*
Management Science .000*
Teacher pupil relationship Humanities Commerce .153
Management .005*
Science .868
Commerce Management .897
Science .034*
Management Science .000*
Inadequate study facilities Humanities Commerce .003*
Management .002*
Science .322
Commerce Management .973
Science .224
Management Science .287

*p<0.05
536 REDDY et al., Biomed. & Pharmacol. J., Vol. 11(1), 531-537 (2018)

SD=6.51) differed significantly on the dimension highlighting the need for medical attention and
personal inadequacy with Commerce interventions (Behere, Yadav & Behere, 2011).
stream(Mean=14.02, SD=5.71), interpersonal
difficulties(Mean=7.62, SD=5.30) with Management CONCLUSION
stream(Mean=10.43, SD=5.42), teacher pupil
relationship(Mean=10.39, SD=6.56) with Academic stress has become a pervasive
Management stream(Mean=13.30, SD=6.06) and problem across countries, cultures, and ethnic
inadequate study facilities (Mean=8.08, SD=5.18) groups (Wong, Wong & Scott, 2006). The present
with Commerce (Mean=11.44, SD=4.64) and study brought into light that academic stress still
Management streams (Mean=11.03, SD=6.06), continues to be a devastating problem affecting
p<0.05. a student’s mental health and well-being. Stream
wise differences in the experience of stress were
The Commerce stream differed also highlighted. Management of the condition
significantly on the dimension interpersonal thus becomes fundamental at every level namely,
difficulties (Mean=9.76, SD=4.97) with Science personal, social and institutional. Techniques like
stream (Mean=6.47, SD=5.46) and teacher pupil biofeedback, yoga, life-skills training, mindfulness
relationship (Mean=12.58, SD=5.36) with Science meditation, psychotherapy have been found to
stream(Mean=9.67, SD=6.17), p<0.05. be effective in reducing stress among students
Understanding the source from the different spheres
Along with significant differences in will enable professionals in the field to tailor-make
dimensions with Humanities stream, the Management intervention for students combining the most
stream differed significantly in the dimension effective strategies. Improving the holistic well-being
interpersonal difficulties (Mean=10.43, SD=5.42) of the student would eventually be productive not
with Science stream (Mean=6.47, SD=5.46) and only the individual but, for the overall productivity of
teacher pupil relationship (Mean= 13.30, SD=6.06) the institutions as well.
with Science stream (Mean=9.67, SD=6.17), p<0.05.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Prevalence of academic stress is not a
stream specific situation. High stress levels were This study was supported by the Centre for
reported in medical and engineering students Research (projects), Christ University, Bangalore –
560 029, India.

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