Student Stress: Why It’s on the Rise and What Universities Can Do About It

Written by: Liya Monfopa & Helena Katona

Edited by: Natalie Green & Michelle Premnath

What is Stress?

Stress is defined as any situation in which the demands of that situation exceed the resources or capabilities that you currently have at your disposal. This inability to restore the balance can influence your physical and psychological well-being (Hamaideh, 2011). 

As a university student, you have surely experienced stress throughout your academic career and you probably consider stress to be a natural consequence of being a student. However, excessive stress can lead to high prevalence rates of psychological distress and in university, a majority of students report elevated and chronic levels of stress that remain high throughout the year (Stallman & Hurst, 2016).

Stress is commonly measured using one of four approaches: 

1. Physiological arousal 

• Blood pressure 

• Heart rate

• Respiration

• Galvanic skin response

• Biochemical blood

• Urine and saliva analyses

2. Life events

• Self-report which assesses the major events a person has experienced and the stressfulness of each event 

3. Daily hassles

• Measure of day-to-day unpleasant events 

4. Symptom checklist

• Difficulty relaxing

• Nervous arousal

• Being easily upset and agitated

• Being irritable and over-reactive (Stallman & Hurst, 2016)

Three Factors Influencing Student Stress 

The stress that students experience is due to the interaction of stressors such as financial pressure, academic pressure and social pressure that affect students’ health and academic performance (Hamaideh, 2011).

1. Financial Pressure 

Amongst students that attend a university, financial stress is widespread, for instance, in a study, 71% of students reported feeling stress from personal finances. Predominant factors that led to this financial stress was students being worried about being able to pay bills as well as being able to pay them on time. Students were also concerned about having to pay increasing tuition fees and the added stress of having to pay back borrowed loans during and after university (Heckman et al., 2014) (Hossain et al., 2022). Students who hold any financial stress may also experience an impact on the extent of their participation in academic activities such as attending lectures, tutorials or office hours and their participation in personal activities. Many of those who attend university also stress about not having enough money to participate in the same activity and outings as their peers.

2. Academic pressure 

Students come into university with high academic expectations which can lead them to place unachievable demands and stress on themselves.  For instance, considerable students place pressure on themselves to earn their degrees while achieving high grades, and when these expectations are not met it can lead to mental distress. Students may also experience stress from the amount of work that is assigned to them such as excessive homework and test scheduling. The clarity of assignments can be another source of stress and it can potentially lead to conflicts with their instructors (Hamaideh, 2011). The quality of the infrastructures of the university such as the comfort of the classrooms can also have an impact on the academic performances and well being of students (Hamaideh, 2011).

3. The mental health crisis 

Coming to university also means entering a new social environment and having to build connections with peers as well as maintaining relationships with family, alongside learning how to create healthy habits for yourself. However, students may find themselves having poor eating and sleeping patterns as well as being lonely which may have a negative impact on student’s stress levels (Hamaideh, 2011). A study showed that students who perceive themselves as having excessive and prolonged stress may often become depressed and become vulnerable to other psychiatric disturbances such as mental distress, burnout, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. These mental disorders can potentially lead students to drop out of university (Hamaideh, 2011) (Stallman & Hurst, 2016). 

A survey showed that mental health problems are particularly prevalent on university campuses. The findings were that over 50 % of students suffered from at least one mental health problem with depression being one of the most prevalent since it affected between 13% and 15% of students (Hamaideh, 2011).

The Growing Stress Among Post-Secondary Students: What Needs to Change?

The reality is that without any changes the student stress and mental health crisis will only continue to get worse. Studies such as the one conducted by Moghimi et al. (2023) report that 45.1% of post-secondary students experience higher than average stress levels, and up to 35% meet diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health disorder. With rates of stress affecting almost half of the Canadian post-secondary student population, it raises the crucial question - 

What can institutions do to support students as the need for mental health resources continues to grow? 

Barriers to Accessing Support 

It is evident that the current strategies need to be revised as students are facing barriers accessing resources for their stress and mental health. In a survey conducted by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, university and college students reported barriers to accessing mental health services due to wait times (65%) and a lack of awareness of how to access them (63%) (CASA, 2022). What is even more concerning is that barriers in access are only part of the story.  Out of the students who did manage to access services one in three reported that they did not meet their needs (CASA, 2022).

What is currently being Done? 

In response to these statistics Canadian Colleges and Universities are beginning to address the problem. In an attempt to increase the number of and variety of resources available to students Ontario’s Post Secondary institutions have increased their spending on wellness services (Lanthier et al., 2023). While increased funding is important and a step in the right direction without changes to policy, the systems in place to support students will continue to struggle to keep up (Lanthier et al., 2023). 

What Next?

Universities should look towards suggestions made in The higher Education Quality council of Ontario's recent report titled Supporting Student Mental Health in Ontario:Exploring Best Practices and Identifying Gaps. The report does an excellent job at summarizing the stressors students are currently facing and recommends several changes that universities can implement to improve their services and dismantle barriers. The two most notable and practical suggestions include using a stepped care model and creating more culturally informed ressources (Chatoor 2023). Transitioning to whole-campus approaches that emphasize access to a range of supports in the form of stepped-care models would ensure that there are multiple levels of support ranging from simple drop-in counseling to more intensive one on one aid (Chatoor 2023). More specifically, a whole campus approach may encourage universities to implement additional  resources for students beyond counseling that may address underlying causes of stress such as academic or financial pressures. Similarly culturally informed resources would ensure that students' needs are being met in a way that truly works for them, allowing the diverse student population to thrive. 

Student Stress should be a top priority in the conversation about student success. After all, a student who is mentally and emotionally supported is more likely to thrive academically and socially. It's time for universities and colleges to make a change, listen to their students, evidence-based practices, and the data to create systems that truly work for everyone.

                                                    References

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. (CASA). (2022, September 25). The new abnormal:

          Student mental health two years into COVID-19. https://www.casa-

          acae.com/the_new_abnormal_report

Chatoor, K., Pilla, N., Balata, L., Shah, H., & Kaufman, A. (2023). Supporting student mental

            health in Ontario: Exploring best practices and identifying gaps. Higher Education                Quality

Council of Ontario.

Hamaideh, S. H. (2009). Stressors and reactions to stressors among university students. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 57(1), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764009348442

Heckman, S., Lim, H., & Montalto, C. (2014). Factors Related to Financial Stress among College Students. New Prairie Press. https://newprairiepress.org/jft/vol5/iss1/3/

Hossain, M. K., Mahfuz, T., Latif, S., & Hossain, M. E. (2022). Determinants of financial stress among university students and its impact on their performance. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 15(1), 226–237. https://doi.org/10.1108/jarhe-02-2021-0082

Lanthier, S., Tishcoff, R., & Colyar, J. (2023). Accessibility services at Ontario colleges and

              universities: Trends, challenges and recommendations for government funding

             strategies. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Advance online publication.

Moghimi, E., Stephenson, C., Gutierrez, G., Jagayat, J., Layzell, G., Patel, C., McCart, A., Gibney, C., Langstaff, C., Ayonrinde, O., Khalid-Khan, S., Milev, R., Snelgrove-Clarke, E., Soares, C., Omrani, M., & Alavi, N. (2023). Mental health challenges, treatment experiences, and care needs of post-secondary students: a cross-sectional mixed-methods study. BMC Public Health, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15452-x

Stallman, H. M., & Hurst, C. P. (2016). The University Stress Scale: Measuring domains and extent of stress in university students. Australian Psychologist, 51(2), 128–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12127