Student Stress

Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background of the Study

For some students, college is the best time of life. These critical years of adjustment can also be undermined by depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders (National Health Ministries, 2006). College students experience a lot of stress. Moreover, not every student experiences stress, and some students actually thrive on a certain amount of stress; but many college students find that increased pressure or anxiety are part of the experience of college.

In a survey conducted on 2,200 students in 40 colleges in the USA during the Spring 2009, eighty-five percent (85%) of students feel stressed on a daily basis; seventy-seven percent (77%) of students feel stress over academic concerns; seventy-four percent (74%) of students feel stress about grades; sixty-seven percent (67%) of students feel stress about financial worries; fifty-four percent (54%) of students feel stress about their families; fifty-three percent (53%) of students feel stress about relationships; sixty percent (60%) of students at some time have felt stress to the point of not being able to get work done; and sixty-seven percent (67%) of students reach out to parents for help with stress (College Parents of America, 2010).

A study of Laguador et al. (2013) in Lyceum University of the Philippines students revealed that headache, excess perspiration and fatigue were the most common symptoms of stressed being experienced by the students in terms of physical stress while negative thinking, tense and feeling of failure are the most common being encountered in terms of psychological stress and eating fast, making mistakes and restlessness in terms of behavioral stress.

It is along this line, the researchers want to investigate further on student stress in ACES Polytechnic College. Further, the researchers also want to explore the coping strategies that the students are using as they encounter stress, and its possible...