Common Knowledge That Emerging Adult College Students

In his article, William Zinsser identifies several factors that contributed to the stress young adults experienced during college in the 1970’s. He categorizes common college pressures such as: economic pressure, parental pressure and self induced pressure.

Although the stress of college students is largely present, it is just another part of college. The real epidemic here besides added pressure on female students is how students as a whole can reduce the amount of stress that is put on them by personal practices. The hardships that students are going through now will be prevalent in the future when they become very successful from all the aspects they were challenged

According to The Effects of Stress on the Lives of Emerging Adult College Students: An Exploratory Analysis by Justin W. Peer, Stephen B. Hillman, and Emma Van Hoet, created a study to answer the question of how stress affects college students. In their research they discovered that stress had both negative and positive effects and how the students coped with it.One of the students studied admitted to feeling

Transitioning from childhood to adulthood is a juggling act. This statement is especially true for any young adult that is also attending college during this time. Every single student feels the pressure of grades and the inherent self-induced pressure. Most students feel pressure from their parents or peers while experiencing pressures from the economy like having a job. And some may even feel their sports team or club is adding to their stress as well. These pressures weigh in everyday, simultaneously in these student’s lives.

One topic in psychology I find particularly interesting is the amount of stress that students in this generation are subjected to, specifically while in college. There are many reasons why this topic is interesting to me. The first and obvious reason is because I myself am a college student. Therefore, I have personally experienced the tremendous amount of stress that is put on students. I have also witnessed my friends and peers cope with this stress in various ways, some of which are healthy and some of which are not. I also am interested in this topic because I feel that it is universally an important topic. With the job market being so competitive, and the need for advanced degrees becoming commonplace, students are constantly focused on

Stress is unavoidable, no matter the situation, location, or time; stress is always present. Stress is found in higher levels during the duration in which students attend college. It is predictably higher among college students, freshmans in particular, because of the extreme expectations set upon them by their parents and, of course, society. The need to please their parents, longing for success in life, and being able to sustain a reasonable income in the future, all of which falls into the hands of college students who are making critical decisions which may decide the outcome for a large portion of their lives. If these students end up hating their future jobs, the stress of having to go back into college to study for a new career

Like many of the questionnaires utilized for research in the articles used for this literature review, it was anonymous, and administered and collected during class. This form of data collection provided high turn in rates allowing researchers to have a wide study scale. According to Hicks, T., & Heastie, S., contrasting levels of stress and coping mechanisms were present in these students. It was noted that traditional college students experience more psychological stress than their nontraditional student counterparts. In addition, during the first year of college, the amount of stress experienced by students is the highest in comparison to stress in the remainder of the years. These results are especially important because it stresses the need for a strong health and wellness center within colleges and universities.

This study compared academic stressors and reactions to stressors between American and international students using Gadzella’s Life Stress Inventory (B. M. Gadzella, 1991). Five categories of academic stressors (i.e., frustrations, conflicts, pressures, changes, and self-imposed) and four categories describing reactions to these stressors (i.e., physiological, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive) were examined. The sample consisted of 392 international and American students from 2 Midwestern universities. American students reported higher self-imposed stressors and greater behavioral

With an increased demand for skilled labors, many students nowadays find themselves needing to complete some form of higher education at college to ensure their success in the workplace and their future career goals. Although freshmen students often enter college with high expectations and ambitions, many eventually drop out of college. Why does that happen? In an ever-changing and more competitive environment, the demanding expectations on college students now soar at unprecedented heights, creating stressful and unpleasant experiences for many of them as they try to keep up with all the burdens inflicted upon them. In their writings, Dr. Christine B. Whelan, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alan Schwartz, and Nisha Ramachandran explore and illustrate some of the stress-creating challenges that freshmen struggle with today. Even though many factors contribute to the huge list of problems for first-year students, many of the problems that create stress for college freshmen fall under the categories of academic factors, (what adverb to add) teachers, and personal-life conflicts.

In this scholarly journal Chu-Lien Chao examined the stress levels of students. In the article, she states, “Life often throws students off track with unexpected break-ups, difficult tasks beyond their capabilities and other situations that suddenly force them to make decisions about their future” (p.5). This is a very valid point. This problem is most common for students who are trying to go to school to better their future but don’t really have an idea of where they may end up. Chu-Lien Chao also states how students may cope with stress. Chu-Lien Chao writes, “In the face of stress students naturally seek support from family and friends and execute their coping to maintain well-being”. This is a way a student can cope with stress: finding

Stress is no new phenomenon. It’s been around as long as man and has captivated scholars and physicians alike. With the growing demand for degrees in the professional world comes the growth of the number of college students. The relationship between stress and college students has become the subject of on-going research. Several studies show that stress in college students is increasing with time and the authors of those studies are attributing this to an increased number of students. Other research seems to indicate that it isn’t necessarily the stress that is increasing but the awareness of it. Increased awareness of stress, and its unique toll on individuals, allows colleges and students to recognize

College students are a unique population of people who have a variety of different stressors than people who do not attend college (Holinka, 2015). Post-secondary education is a stressful time for both traditional and nontraditional students (Yarbrough & Schaffer, 1990). Regardless of student status whether it may be traditional, nontraditional, freshman- senior, all students experience stress at one time or another. Trenz, Ecklund-Flores, and Rapoza (2015), illustrate those traditional and nontraditional students both face life stress, anxiety, and depression but manage stress, anxiety-provoking events, and negative situations quite differently. Navigating through a new chapter in life increases the amount of stress on an individual. Interestingly, research shows that traditional and nontraditional student sample score similarly when tested on their emotional satisfaction with their support system—suggesting that differences in support are unlikely to explain differences in stress levels between these two groups (Carney-Crompton & Tan, 2002).

It is known that students face various stress-related issues, whether it is a major test, an oral presentation, strict parents or just the stress of maintaining a good GPA. However, people may not realize that certain stress-related issues can have a huge impact on a young student’s development and even carry these issues into adulthood. College students are typically between ages 18-25, which is an important life-stage called emerging adulthood, as Jeffrey Jensen Arnett (2007) has written about several times in his journals. Emerging adulthood is the transition from adolescence into adulthood. It is not a quick transition, but a gradual transition from adolescence to this period of development. During emerging adulthood, various domains

Stress is a prominent issue within the freshmen population at Coastal Carolina University. It is important for students to learn how to empower themselves with information that will help them prepare for and cope with stress. Many factors of stress make students feel alone in what they are struggling with. However, these difficulties are completely normal, which is why it is crucial for more information that relays strategies and evidence of stress in others to be shared. When students understand that they are not alone, they are more open and accepting of their stress. After accepting that they must learn how to deal with their issues and that their emotional health is just as important as their physical health, they must determine the factors that contribute to their stress. They must teach themselves the difference between beneficial and harmful ways to deal with the stress around them. One resource available to students who are struggling and searching for help is Chris Donevant-Haines.

I am aiming to decipher the factors that contribute to the stress experienced by tertiary students. There are multiple factors in society that are said to constrain the life of a student or make it more difficult, and I am interested to find out what these factors are and to what degree they cause stress in a student 's life.