IMPACT OF STRESS FACTORS ON COLLEGE STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
This paper is intellectual property of Laura P. Womble, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and has been shared for reference only
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Stress can have an impact on a student’s academic performance. Knowing that, is there is a correlation between a student’s amount of perceived stress in a given semester and that same semester’s GPA? Twenty-five college students participated in the study. The students were asked to complete a survey, including the perceived stress scale. Along with this test the students were asked to complete a demographic data sheet that asked questions such as age and gender, and also their classes and grades the prior semester. Finally the students were asked to read a list of possible stress factors, for example not getting enough sleep, and rank them in order of importance. The present study was unable to find a correlation between the score on the perceived stress scale, and GPA. Still the stress factors that most contributed to the student’s GPA, mainly sleep and social, activities were consistent with other research. A much larger survey would need to be conducted in order to provide an appropriate sample size.
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College
students have many obstacles to overcome in order to achieve their optimal
academic performance. It takes a lot more than just studying to achieve a
successful college career. Different stressors such as time
management, financial problems, sleep deprivation, social activities, and for
some students even having children, can all pose their own threat to a
student’s academic performance. The way that academic performance is
measured is through the ordinal scale of grade point average (GPA).
A student’s GPA determines many things such as class rank and entrance to
graduate school. Much research has been done looking at the correlation of
many stress factors that college students’ experience and the effects of
stress on their GPA. A name given to such stress factors by Hatcher and Prus
(1991) referred to these stress factors as academic situational
constraints. Their study took into account a variety of factors that can
diminish a student’s academic performance. Factors such as fraternity and
sorority activities, job responsibilities, or having a boyfriend or
girlfriend taking away from valuable time. One extraneous variable that
was taken into account was that at most universities students involved in
activities such as fraternities or sororities, and also athletics, must
maintain an acceptable GPA to participate. This factor by itself could
attribute to these students GPAs being higher than the average college student.
This
study did not take into account a main factor that a lot of college students
have to deal with, having children and families to care for. Today more
and more people are deciding to return to college after being out in the
work force. Coming back to college puts high demands on older people,
who sometimes have family already. This factor of having a family could
itself contribute to a lower GPA, but one study looked at this factor of
family and found the contrary. What helped these students was the support
they found within the University, support such as childcare services, and also
courses in how to hone superior studying skills (Hammer, Grigsby, &
Woods, 1998). One extraneous factor in the study of family and school
demands was that most of the students surveyed were only part-time students
and therefore not a representative sample of the general college
population.
There are
also a number of health–related factors that can contribute to a student’s
academic performance, and therefore have an effect on his or her GPA. The
amount of exercise, nutritional routines, and also the amount of social
support the student perceives all can contribute to how a
student academically performs (Hammer et al, 1998). Exercising too much or
not at all can influence academic performance. Taking time out of frequent
study hours to work out pulls away from grades.
A frequent occurrence on college campuses
is students becoming almost addicted to exercise, turning a
healthy behavior into one that is psychologically unhealthy. In a study in
2000 Trockel, Barnes, and Egget found “That students who exercised seven or
more hours a week obtained significantly lower grades than students who
exercised six or fewer hours weekly or not at all” (p. 126).
Nutrition
is also a problem with college students. Students may have difficulty finding
the time to cook adequate meals. Most students are just learning to live
on their own, and learning to cook can prove to be a challenge. Finding
time to go to the grocery store once every couple of weeks can be a
demanding task. Little storage space is available in the average dorm
room, and food storage may not be possible at all (Trockel et al,
2000).
The effects
of perceived social support are mixed. Some studies have shown that the amount
of social support from the university and outside contributors like
family, friends and mentors can make a huge impact on a student’s success.
Support such as emotional, academic, and financial are tremendous factors
in the success of a college student. The years spent at college can be a
stressful and life-changing experience, having your family and friends,
along with the university all be there is crucial. If the student has a
family that involves his or her own children, the support of everyone is needed
even more, to achieve the goal of graduation. (Trockel et al., 2000).
The
correlation between hours worked in a week and GPA seems obvious. The more time
spent at work, the less time a student spends studying. Having to hold
down a job and still be a college student is a constant source of stress
(Calderon, Hey, & Seabert, 2001). Also, mentally juggling the two roles
of workplace and college student can itself be stressful. Finding the time
to work a full or part time job and take it as seriously, and also
maintain focus on academic studies can be perceived as stressful.
Being exhausted from working the night before can cause a poor attendance
record and also give a student less time to study, resulting in a poor
academic performance.
The most
important contribution that was found was the effects of sleep on students’
GPA. One study took into account previous research that had been done in
the area of sleep, not just on college students but also on the general
population. Kelly, Kelly, and Clanton (2001) “classified sleepers into three
categories. 1) Short sleepers, individuals who, when left to set their own
schedule, slept six or fewer hours. 2) Average sleepers, individuals who
slept seven or eight hours, and 3) long sleepers, individuals who slept nine
or more hours out of twenty-four ” (p. 84). The study found that people who
were considered to be long sleepers reported higher GPAs.
One
thing that this study did not take into account was that some past research on
sleep suggests that people who sleep fewer hours a night may have
psychological maladjustment. Sleeping shorter amounts of time has shown to
increase factors such as anxiety and stress, which have been associated
with academic performance (Kelly et al, 2001). These factors cause students
problems by causing shortened attention span and also increasing the
number of errors students make on tests.
Another
study took the hours of sleep correlation with GPA to another level by taking
factors into account like amount of sleep a student gets on the weekends
versus during the week, the average time a student gets up in the morning
during the week, and waking time on the weekends. Trockel, Barnes,
and Egget (2000) found that variables such as later weekday wake-up and
later weekend wake-up times were associated with a lower GPA. This study
seems to take the research from previous study further, by asking
questions specifically related to when the sleep is obtained and what time of
the morning a student wakes up.
Another
health-related factor that can influence student’s GPA is class attendance.
Attendance itself can be related to stress factors like insufficient
sleep, job responsibility, illness and also having a family or children to
care for. Having a class at seven in the morning can be a huge problem for
students deprived of sleep, especially for those students who attend
classes during the day and work at night. Students who have children to take
care of can often find themselves being held out of class for reasons like
their children being ill or not having the proper child care readily available.
Grades, motivation and prior GPA can also be reasons for class attendance
(Devadoss & Foltz, 1996). With attendance having a major influence on
academic performance, even to the point of some professors using it as a
requirement to pass a course, it is a great indicator of a students
overall GPA. One major prediction of class attendance is a student’s GPA
prior to enrolling in the class. Students who have done better in previous
classes are likely to attend classes more frequently. Other factors in
class attendance include the level of courses the student is taking. On
average, junior and senior level courses have a higher attendance record than freshman
and sophomore courses (Devadoss & Foltz, 1996). One finding that is
contradictory to that of other studies is that students who work and are
financially independent are more likely to attend classes and take their
education more seriously. This is maybe due to the fact that paying for their
education themselves makes them value their college careers more than
students who do not pay for it themselves.
There are many factors that can cause stress and influence a student’s academic performance and therefore affect his or her overall GPA. The factors include exercise, nutrition, sleep, and work and class attendance. A college student may find him or herself in a juggling act, trying to support a family, taking care of job responsibilities, and at the same time trying to make the most of the college career. All of these factors can affect the grades of students, which ultimately affect the rest of their lives.
All of the
factors that have been reviewed in the literature can contribute to a college
student’s level of stress. By themselves these constraints may have no
effect at all on a student, but when combined, a student could perceive
them as stressful, and the stress factors could have a dramatic effect on
a student’s academic performance. With too many stress factors present and
with limited resources of time and energy, a student could easily become
overwhelmed.
What one
student perceives as stressful may not be a factor of stress at all for another
student. The Perceived Stress Scale was developed by Cohen and Mermeistein
(as cited in Calderon et al, 2001) to measure the amount of stress that a
person perceived during past semesters. The Perceived Stress Scale is a
14-item scale designed to measure the degree to which situations in one’s life
are appraised as being stressful.
Some students may perceive factors such as nutrition, exercise routines, sleep patterns, social activities, and work as stressors that they need to overcome in order to achieve a higher academic standing. On the other hand, other students may not perceive these life situations as factors of stress at all. Stress itself has been proven to be a factor affecting a college student’s GPA. Moreover the way the student perceives his or her stress can determine how much stress the student is actually under.
A student
who has a high score on the Perceived Stress Scale has experienced high levels
of stress, and his or her GPA at that time should show that negative
effect. The purpose of this present study is to determine if there is a
negative correlation between perceived stress in a given semester and
that semester’s GPA. Perceived stress will be measured by the Perceived
Stress Scale, and GPA by the grades obtained that semester (Fall of 2001).
I hypothesize that a higher score on the Perceived Stress Scale resulting
in a higher level of stress, the correlated GPA should be lower during that
specific semester.
Method
Participants
Twenty-five
undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte were
asked to complete a survey. Participants were recruited by asking
professors in my different classes if I would be able to pass the surveys
out to the students. Seven males and eighteen females all completed the survey.
Of these students, 18 were Caucasians, 2 Asian or Pacific Islanders, 1 American
Indian or Alaska Native, 2 African Americans, 1 Hispanic, and 1 other. The
class standing of the 25 students’ was equally distributed, 7 sophomores,
9 juniors, and 8 seniors, with the exception of only surveying 1
freshman.
Students ranged in age from 18 to 35. Fifteen students were of the ages 18 to 21, 7 were 22 to 26, 2 were 27 to 30, and 2 were 31 to 35 years of age. The course load of the students surveyed was classified in the routine way; a part-time student is one who takes less than 12 hours a semester, and only 1 was surveyed. The majority of students, 24, classified themselves as full-time students, those who take from 12 to 18 hours in a normal semester. The students who completed the survey were not given credit to apply towards any class.
Design
The
purpose of this study is to detect if there is a correlation between the stress
that students perceive that they are under, and their GPA’s. Given that
students may not be under the same amount of stress every single semester,
the survey is designed to be answered as it pertained to them the
previous semester of school, Fall 2001. If my hypothesis is correct, there
will be a negative correlation between the amount of stress perceived by
the student and that student’s GPA that same semester at school. To
add another factor to the stress that a student perceives, I want to find
out what the three main reasons they perceive themselves to be under
either a lot of stress, or little at all.
Materials
Perceived
Stress Scale. In order to evaluate the amount of stress that students perceive
to be under, I used the Perceived Stress Scale, developed by Cohen and
Mermeistein in 1983 (see Appendix A for Perceived Stress Scale). The
Perceived Stress Scale is a fourteen-item scale that asks the respondents
to answer a series of questions as they pertained to them in the last
month. I filled in the words, during last semester, to be able to evaluate
their level of perceived stress at that point in time. The method of answering
the questions is a likert scale format with answers ranging from 0 being an
answer of never to 4 being an answer of very often. The scale yields a
single score and a higher score is indicative of greater levels of
perceived stress, with items 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, being reversed scored. The
Perceived Stress Scale has been shown to be reliable and to measure only
the amount of stress, independent of other constructs like depression.
Demographic Data.
Students
were asked to report data about themselves to control for extraneous variables.
Questions were asked such as their genders, ages, and races. Students were also
asked to answer questions about their course load, and class standing. (See
Appendix B for demographic data sheet).
Stress Factors Survey. The students were asked to report the classes that they took over the Fall 2001 semester and any grades that they received. There is a list of reasons that could have contributed to their GPA; these reasons were be pulled out from what was reviewed in the literature (see Appendix C for stress factors survey). The students will be asked to report their top three reasons, that they received the grades that they earlier reported.
Procedures
Twenty-five
students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte were asked if they
could take ten minutes and fill out a survey. The students were first
asked to read and sign a consent form (see Appendix D for informed consent
form). The signed consent forms were then placed into a manila envelope so
the names of each of the students would remain confidential. The students were
given sheets of paper stapled together, the first paper being the
Perceived Stress Scale. The next sheet of paper was a series of questions
pertaining to there gender, age, race, and class standing. Following that they
were asked to list every single class that they took and the grades that
they recieved. Lastly, the students were presented with a list of possible
stressors or reasons that they obtained those grades last semester.
They were asked to read the directions and answer the questions as
honestly as they possibly could. It was brought to their attention again
that their answers will be kept completely confidential and their
names could not be matched with their answers.
All
of the participants were tested under the same basic conditions. They were
asked to complete the survey in a classroom that they are familiar with,
since they have their regular classes in these rooms. The lighting in all
of these classrooms is overhead fluorescent bulbs, and the temperature is
basically kept comfortable, around 70-72 degrees fahrenheit. The noise
levels in the classrooms is one extraneous variable that I was not able to
control. Since the noise level in a normal classroom setting rarely
exceeds normal conversation levels, this should not have an impact on the results.
After the
students finished the Perceived Stress Scale and fill out the rest of the
survey, they were all thanked for helping me with my project. I asked them
what they thought of the process. Students said that it took too long and
it was hard to remember the classes that they took last semester. I then
again assured them that the information that I collected would remain
confidential, so they should not worry about the grades being used for
something else.
Results
A
correlation was run on the scores from the Perceived Stress Scale and the
student’s GPA. The results showed that the stress the surveyed students
were under was not significantly correlated with the student’s GPA, r =
-.030, p = .885. The qualitative data was “eyeballed” to see in what order the
students ranked their stress factors. Not getting enough sleep ranked
number 1 with 12 students, followed by having problems with roommates, and
social activities tied for number 2 with 8 responses. Lastly, working a
part-time job came in at number 3 with 7 responses, close to the number 2
spot.
Discussion
If a
student is under a large amount of perceived stress, one would tend to think
that the student’s GPA would suffer. In the review of the literature many
studies found that certain factors could greatly influence a student’s
GPA. Health-related factors like, nutrition, and amounts of sleep were found to
have a great influence on students (Trockel et al, 2000). Other factors
like having a full or part-time job have been thought to take away from a
student’s academic performance (Calderon et al, 2001). Social
activities such as, being in a fraternity or sorority, or having problems
with boyfriends or girlfriends have shown to also have a negative effect
on academic performance (Hatcher & Prus, 1991).
With all
this taken into consideration the purpose of this study was to examine the
correlation between students’ amounts of perceived stress in a given
semester and their GPA’s. The present study was unable to show a
significant correlation between the two factors. Scores ranged across the
board, from a high score on the perceived stress scale with a high GPA,
and a low score on the perceived stress scale and a high GPA.
There could
be many reasons for these findings. The small amount of surveys that were
collected may not have been a great enough number to examine the
correlation closely. The student’s themselves could have in some way
served as an extraneous variable, with a great deal of them having
problems remembering the courses that they during in the last semester.
The grades that they reported may not have been completely accurate. The
fact that the students had a hard time referring to their thoughts
and feelings that previous semester may have also affected their stress
scale score.
The
qualitative data that was examined at the end of the survey does run parallel
to what was found in the review of the literature. Most students ranked
not getting enough sleep as their number one factor in their level of
stress, followed by problems with roommates, and social activities, which in
the literature was proven to be a stress factor that a majority of
students had to deal with. Finding a good middle-ground between what is
almost expected of you as a college student in the social area, and what
is definitely expected of your in the academic area, can be a constant
uphill battle for a great deal of students. Too much activity in the
social area can have detrimental effects on a student’s GPA, with
poor class attendance, and inadequate sleep leading to a downfall in the
area of grades. The third ranking stress factor was working a part-time
job, each hour a student spends at work that he or she could be studying, can
take away from obtaining the students’ full academic potential.
This
study had many limitations that might have had an effect on the results. Not
having an adequate number of students who were willing to take the time to
fill out the survey was a constant problem. The subject-pool could have
been used in order to have access to more students, but those enrolled in
the general psychology lab are usually in their first year in college and
therefore have different stress factors like adjusting to the different
atmosphere of college life. Another limitation of this study was the fact
that a majority of students were clueless about the grades that they received
the prior semester, much less they knew about the classes they even took.
The main
strength of this study was the point-of-view of the author. Being a college
student myself and dealing with this stress on a daily basis gave me a
great deal of insight on the subject researched. I am completely aware of
the impact of things like work and sleep deprivation can have on
a student’s academic performance. Also, having family and financial
obligliations can somehow take away from the ability to always perform
your best.
This study was unable to show a correlation between a student’s amount of perceived stress, and that student’s academic performance, measured by GPA, though prior research showed there was a connection between the two. Some data suggested that those factors reviewed in the literature, like sleep and work, do somewhat contribute to a student’s academic performance.
References
Calderon,
K. S., Hey, W., & Seabert, D. (2001). Perceived stress and locus of control
differences
between employed and non-employed college students: Implications for
increasing internal locus of control. Student Affairs Journal Online.
Retrieved March 30, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://sajo.org.
Devadoss,
S., & Foltz, J. (1996). Evaluation of factors influencing student class
attendance and performance [Electronic version]. American Journal of
Agricultural
Economics, 78, 499-508.
Hammer, L.
B., Grigsby, T. L, & Woods, S. (1998). The conflicting demands of
work,
family, and school among students at an urban university [Electronic version].
The Journal of Psychology, 132, 220-227.
Hatcher,
L., & Prus, J. S. (1991). A measure of academic situational constraints:
Out-of-class
circumstances that inhibit college student development [Electronic
version]. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 51(4), 953-963.
Kelly, W.
E., Kelly, K. E, & Clanton, R. C. (2001). The relationship between sleep
length and
grade-point-average among college students [Electronic version]. College
Student Journal, 35, 84-88.
Trockel, M.
T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, D. L. (2000). Health-related variables and
academic
performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and
other behaviors [Electronic version]. Journal of American College Health,
49, 125-140.
Appendix A
Perceived Stress Scale
The
questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during last
semester fall 2001. In each case you will be asked to indicate how often
you felt or thought a certain way. Although some of the questions are
similar, there are differences between them and you should treat each one as
a separate question. The best approach is to answer each question fairly
quickly. That is, don’t try to count up the number of times you felt a
particular way, but rather indicate the alternative that seems like
a reasonable estimate. Remember that your answers can never be matched up
with your name, so please try to answer the question as honest as
possible.
For each question choose one of the following alternatives:
0 = never
1 = almost never 2 = sometimes 3 =
fairly often 4 = very often
1. During last semester, how often had you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?
0
1 2 3
4
2.
During last semester, how often have you felt that you were unable
to control the important things in your life?
0 1 2 3
4
3.
During last semester, how often have you felt nervous and
stressed? 0 1 2
3 4
4.
During last semester, how often have you dealt successfully with
irritating life hassles?
0
1 2 3
4
5.
During last semester, how often have you felt that you were
effectively coping with important changes that were occurring in your
life?
0 1 2 3
4
6.
During last semester, how often have you felt confident about your
ability to handle personal problems?
0
1 2 3
4
7.
During last semester, how often have you felt that things were going
your way?
0 1 2
3 4
8.
During last semester, how often have you found that you could not cope
with all things that you had to do?
0 1 2 3
4
9.
During last semester, how often have you been able to control irrtations
in your life?
0
1 2 3
4
10.
During last semester, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
0 1 2
3 4
11.
During last semester, how often have you been angered because of things that
happened that were outside of your control?
0 1 2 3
4
12.
During last semester, how often have you found yourself thinking about things
that you have to accomplish?
0 1 2 3
4
13.
During last semester, how often have you been able to control the way you spend
your time?
0 1 2 3
4
14.
During last semester, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so
high that you could not overcome them?
0 1 2 3
4
Journal, 35, 84-88.
Trockel, M. T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, D. L. (2000). Health-related variables and
academic performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and other
behaviors [Electronic version]. Journal of American College Health, 49, 125-140.
Appendix A
Perceived Stress Scale
The questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during last semester, fall 2001. In each case you will be asked to indicate how often you felt or thought a certain way. Although
some of the questions are similar, there are differences between them and you should treat each one as a separate question. The best approach is to answer each question fairly quickly. That is, don’t try to count up the number of times you felt a particular way, but rather indicate the alternative that seems like a reasonable estimate. Remember that your answers can never be matched up with your name, so please try to answer the question as honest as possible.
For each question choose one of the following alternatives:
0 = never 1 = almost never 2 = sometimes 3 = fairly often 4 = very often
1. During last semester, how often had you been upset because of something that happened
unexpectedly?
0 1 2 3 4
2. During last semester, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in
your life.
0 1 2 3 4
3. During last semester, how often have you felt nervous and stressed? 0 1 2 3 4
4. During last semester, how often have you dealt successfully with irritating life hassles?
0 1 2 3 4
5. During last semester, how often have you felt that you were effectively coping with important
changes that were occurring in your life?
0 1 2 3 4
6. During last semester, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle personal
problems?
0 1 2 3 4
7. During last semester, how often have you felt that things were going your way?
0 1 2 3 4
8. During last semester, how often have you found that you could not cope with all things that you had
to do?
0 1 2 3 4
9. During last semester, how often have you been able to control irrtations in your life?
0 1 2 3 4
10. During last semester, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
0 1 2 3 4
11. During last semester, how often have you been angered because of things that happened that were
outside of your control?
0 1 2 3 4
12. During last semester, how often have you found yourself thinking about things that you have to
accomplish?
0 1 2 3 4
13. During last semester, how often have you been able to control the way you spend your time?
0 1 2 3 4
14. During last semester, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not
overcome them?
0 1 2 3 4
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