The relationship between perceived and actual academic stressors by freshmen and senior university students

The complaint of many undergraduates at universities has often been one of academic demands and the resulting stresses that they encompass, in their pursuit of a degree. Academic stress has been associated with deteriorating mental and physical health in undergraduates, as well as influencing their graduation rates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between perceived academic stress intensity levels for freshmen and actual stress intensity levels for seniors in the university environment. Twenty-four academic stressors were identified. Freshmen and seniors were asked to rate the stress level they felt was best associated with each stressor. The numbers ranged from one through five, with one indicating that the event was not stressful and five indicating the maximum stress possible for the event. The survey was given to over 400 freshmen and senior university students during the first two weeks of a new academic school year. For freshmen, the stress response indicated perceived stress associated with the stressor, while for seniors, the stress response indicated actual stress associated with the stressor. The results revealed that for eleven of the academic stressors the perceived stress intensity levels were higher than the actual stress intensity level experienced by seniors. Only one item was found to have a higher actual stress score than perceived stress score. Furthermore, it was determined that for the remaining twelve items there was no significant difference between the perceived and actual stress scores. The average stress level associated with such stressors was moderately stressful, with scores ranging from 2.5 to 3.5. Based on these findings, university programs designed to help reduce stress should focus on behavior modification and positive health programs that help reduce the negative effects of perceived stress and utilize approach coping mechanisms that can greater reduce the overall effects of stress on freshmen university students.