Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students

1




Determining Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
Diane Turner
Strayer University
Prof. Intawiwat
September 1 , 2014










Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
2

THESIS
I this paper we will explore the leading causes of stress on college students. The paper will
then be used to help students understand the challenges they may face as an adult returning to
school. Many students will face similar stress related issues such as time management,
financial difficulties, social and physical challenges. We will also discuss how the economy
can affect you going back to college and how college may affect the people around you.

Describe the leading causes of stress on college students.
One major cause of stress on college students is the ability to use their time wisely.
Students are faced with time management issues daily; they must learn how to manage school,
work, homework, and family, social and even time for their selves. It will be crucial that
students learn how to plan their day so they do not feel overwhelmed and overlook important
things:
Students who are better at estimating completion time for tasks will be more capable of
managing their time successfully. Burt and Kemp (1994) noted that there are two
required parts of good time management skills: planning a schedule and keeping a
schedule. Despite best efforts to plan and keep time accordingly, time inaccuracies are
still present in daily life, as indicated by phenomena such as the planning fallacy (Bash,
K. L., & Kreiner, D. S. 2014)
It is important that students learn the importance of making and keeping a schedule; this can
help reduce the amount of stress and also keep you focused on your day to day task.
Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
3


The second leading cause to stress on college students is financial difficulties, Financial
related stress, which has become increasingly common among students, can lead to poor
academic performance and productivity (Goetz et al 2011). Students must learn how to pay
for college and still pay their monthly bills. Because of this students rely on financial
assistants and student loans to pay for college, but students are learning that loans do not pay
for all your books and supplies. Therefore, this causes stress on the students to figure out how
to pay for the extra cost that are needed for school.
The final causes are social and physical challenges. There are many different types of
relationships such as, family, friends and your significant other. Having a great support team
and people that you can share you good and bad experiences can make the difference in how
well you do in school, but as we all know some of the relationship can be very toxic.
Unfortunately, unsupportive family can add to your stress. Family are often the first ones to
let you know if they think you are doing something they dont approve of, and many times
family do not understand why you would go back to school as an adult and spend all that
money. Friends may be supportive but they can also be the first to talk you into going out for
coffee, movie, dinner or even out to have a drink at night. Although they may say they
support you asking you to go out when they know you have school or schoolwork can set you
back and can cause you to stress later when you see how far behind you are. Having a
relationship is hard and at best is stressful, but add in trying to have date nights or quiet time
together after the kids are in bed and knowing you have school work can be even more
difficult. Relationships are very important but remember that you made the decision to go
Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
4

back to school so you will need to be upfront with everyone about your schedule and making
sure that you schedule time to be with your family, friends and your significant other.
The last thing that can cause stress among college students are the physical changes that
may occur. Juggling being a parent, spouse, friend and a college student can take a lot out of
people. We find ourselves eating unhealthy not exercising as much or staying up late to finish
that paper that is due the next day, but all of these things put our bodies under more stress
than we realize. Our bodies require food for energy and that energy is what we need to
exercise, but when we eat unhealthy or we dont eat at all our bodies do not get what it needs
therefore leaving us feeling sleeping and tired. Then throw in a few late nights to finish
schoolwork and that is more than our bodies can handle. Your physical health should always
be a priority in your life, taking care of our bodies is the key to reducing stress in your life.
Describe three effects of the cause on the economy.
The impact of the economy can affect your education. According to The Jed Foundation,
who writes this press release in July 2009, the economy can affect students in a dramatic way:
Nearly one out of five students reports having a parent who lost their job or got laid off
since the beginning of the school year. Among these students, the impact of the
economy on their emotional health is intensified. These students encounter more
negative thoughts related to school completion and job prospects and about their lives in
general. Compared to the larger sample, these students are: Nearly twice as likely to
have considered dropping out of school (27 percent vs. 14 percent). More likely to be
very worried about finding a summer job (23 percent vs. 11 percent). More likely to say
Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
5

they worry about their parents' financial situation a lot (55 percent vs. 28 percent). Less
likely to find a college to be worth the time and money (43 percent vs. 54 percent)
Unfortunately, when parents lose their jobs it does not only affect the student, but it also
affects the teachers and the staff at the Universities. When students start dropping out of
school, then schools are left with no choice but to lay off some of their professors. These
professors count on their jobs to provide for their families and so without a job, many of these
teachers will have to get government assistance such as unemployment or food stamps, but
the teachers are not the only ones that suffer when the economy gets bad. Many times it is the
schools themselves, if the student count is down and there are not enough professors to teach
the school may need to close one of the campuses and offer more online classes instead of
classes on campus.
Describe three effects on people.
There are many people in our lives that are affected by the economy. When the economy
is bad we buy less and businesses and the people that work there are greatly affected. Without
people buying things, companies are also forced to lay people off. Secondly are the students
because when things gets tight we are often forced into dropping out of school so that we can
work more and earn more money to provide for our families. Then that can also affect our
kids because we are unhappy about dropping out of school and working more. The economy
has an impact on everyones life whether it is a direct impact or it impacts someone else
which in return can impact your life.
SUMMARY
Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
6

We have discussed how time management, finical difficulties, social and physical changes
can cause stress in college students. Addresses these issues upfront can help you reduce some
of the stress in our lives. Everyone should have a plan on how to address these issues so if you
are faced with these issues you will be prepared. Also, we explained how the economy can
affect your college life and how it can affect the people around you.













Causes and Effects of Stress on College Students
7

Resources
Bash, K. L., & Kreiner, D. S. (2014). Student Perceptions of Study Time. Psi Chi Journal Of
Psychological Research, 19(1), 3-9.
Goetz, J., Cude, B. J., Nielsen, R. B., Chatterjee, S., & Mimura, Y. (2011). College-Based
Personal Finance Education: Student Interest in Three Delivery Methods.Journal Of Financial
Counseling & Planning, 22(1), 27-42.
Makovsky, (2009). New mtvU & Associated Press Poll Shows How Stress, The Economy &
Other Factors Are Affecting College Students' Mental Health. Retrieved from
www.jedfoundation.org/press-room/press-releases/New-mtvU-Associated-Press-Poll-Shows-
How-Stress-Economy-Other-Factors-Are-Affecting-College-Students-Mental-Health