Authors: Megan Fuller and Doneé Piacitelli HEALTH SCIENCES Relationship between College Students’ Stress Levels and Their Ways to Cope with Stress Authors: Megan Fuller and Doneé Piacitelli

Introduction What is stress? HEALTH SCIENCES Introduction What is stress? According to the American Institute of Stress The term stress was introduced by Hans Selye in 1936, who defined it as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change.” Stress is highly subjective it can be real stress, or stress that is just perceived. Both psychological and physiological problems can occur if a person remains stressed.

Introduction Problem/Rational HEALTH SCIENCES Introduction Problem/Rational College student stress levels are on the rise. (Gnilka, Ashby, Matheny, Chung, & Cheng, 2015, p. 234) Not many studies focus on the stress levels of college females, specifically within a private university.

HEALTH SCIENCES Research Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the levels of stress between college junior and senior females and various factors influencing those levels and their coping strategies. In additional, we looked at correlation between the students’ levels of stress and stress coping techniques.

Topics: Stress prevalence, causes, coping methods HEALTH SCIENCES Literature Review Topics: Stress prevalence, causes, coping methods Stress levels College students stress has been on the rise in recent decades. 13% low stress levels, 75% moderate stress levels, and 12% high stress levels. (Gnilka, Ashby, Matheny, Chung, & Cheng, 2015, p. 234) Causes Academic pressure, financial burden, male-to-female ratio, technology, and lifestyle. (Kruisselbrink Flatt, 2013, p. 2). Coping methods Social interactions, eight or more hours of sleep, calming hobbies, balanced diet, regular exercise, contact with family, listening to music, avoiding substance abuse, etc. (Welle & Graf, 2011, p. 101)

Method HEALTH SCIENCES Research Design: It was a descriptive research design that measured the stress levels amongst female college students in relationship to employment status and number of units taken. Subjects: Convenience sampling of 55 female participants that were recruited from a private university in Southern California. Procedures: During October 2015, students were recruited at various locations across campus to volunteer in taking a multi-page anonymous survey that included Cohen’s PSS that asked a variety of questions regarding their level of stress. Instrumentation: PSS is a 10-item scale that contains 6 negative statements and 4 positive statements. Data analysis plan: Key variables included stress, causes and coping mechanisms were analyzed using descriptive statistics. To test the hypothesis we used Pearson correlation between the levels of stress and coping strategies. Describe the PSS 10 item

Results: Part I—Demographic Information HEALTH SCIENCES Results: Part I—Demographic Information From those who were employed, 3.6%(n=2) worked between 1-10 hours, 23.6%(n=13) worked between 11-20 hours, 25.5%(n=14) worked between 21-29 hours, and 14.5%(n=8) worked 30 hours or more.

Results Part II: Research Findings HEALTH SCIENCES Results Part II: Research Findings

Results Part II: Research Findings HEALTH SCIENCES Results Part II: Research Findings

Results Part II: Research Findings HEALTH SCIENCES Results Part II: Research Findings

HEALTH SCIENCES Research Hypothesis There was statistical significance between level of stress and recreational drug use; r= -.284, p= .035

Discussion & Conclusions HEALTH SCIENCES Discussion & Conclusions 1. Cohen’s PSS revealed that juniors had a mean stress score of 16.4 and seniors 19.7. 2. From our results we can conclude that the top two main causes for stress among college junior and senior were: 1) Financial obligations 2) School 3. The top two coping strategies that we observed were: 1) Music 2) Watching television

HEALTH SCIENCES Recommendations Potentially contacting school administration to address the concern for student recreational drug usage. Using social networking more effectively to advertise to students ways to manage stress (counseling center, etc.)

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