Sharing Student Projects

The aim of the project was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between academic stress and psychological wellbeing in undergraduate university students of all year groups in the UK, and to identify a way in which this relationship could be reduced. Social support is hypothesised to protect students against the negative consequences of stress, therefore this study aimed to investigate whether social support can protect students against the negative consequences of academic stress on the psychological wellbeing of university students. The study also aimed to provide a better understanding as to how levels of academic stress and psychological wellbeing might differ depending on the student’s year of study, as previous research had mainly focused on first year students. The target population was undergraduate university students in their first, second or third year of their degree at a university in the UK. A total of 130 participants participated in the study, 30 of which identified as male, 98 of which identified as female and 2 of which identified as other. In terms of year group, 40 students were in their first year, 38 were in their second year and 42 were in their third year of study. Participants completed a questionnaire that consisted of 50 items, and included a demographic questionnaire, an academic stress scale, a psychological wellbeing scale and a perceived social support scale. There were four main findings of the study. The first was that there is no significant difference in levels of academic stress and psychological wellbeing between first, second- and third-year undergraduate students, meaning students 74 in each university year group have similar levels of academic stress and psychological wellbeing. This contradicted previous research that found higher levels of academic stress in students in their final year than first year, and higher levels of depression at the end of final year than prior to starting university. The second finding was that there is a significant negative association between academic stress and psychological wellbeing, meaning that participants who reported higher levels of academic stress had lower levels of psychological wellbeing. This finding is in line with previous research. The third finding is that there is a significant positive association between perceived social support and psychological wellbeing, meaning that participants who had higher levels of perceived social support have higher levels of psychological wellbeing. This finding is also in line with previous research. Finally, the study found that social support does not moderate the association between academic stress and psychological wellbeing, meaning that the association between academic stress and psychological wellbeing is not affected by an individual’s perception of their social support. This contradicts previous research which found that social support can protect individuals against the negative consequences of stress on depression and wellbeing. It can be concluded that academic stress is negatively associated with psychological wellbeing and social support is positively associated with psychological wellbeing in undergraduate students studying at universities in the UK. However, the relationship between academic stress and psychological wellbeing is not affected by levels of perceived social support. Future research should continue to investigate potential protective factors against the influence of 75 academic stress on psychological wellbeing to reduce levels of academic stress and improve psychological wellbeing in university students.

The findings of this research have several real-world applications that will have a positive impact on undergraduate university students and universities in the UK. Firstly, the finding that students have low levels of psychological wellbeing is useful as it clearly highlights that universities need to act to help protect the wellbeing of their students. Through demonstrating the potential negative influence of academic stress on psychological wellbeing, universities might begin to consider implementing stress management programmes to help students deal with academic stress. Additionally, they might consider changing aspects of the teaching process to prevent academic stress from occurring. For instance, the frequency of examinations and assignments is a major source of stress in students, therefore universities might review the number of assignments and examinations students are required to sit to ensure they are not being overburdened. This could help prevent academic stress from negatively impacting students’ psychological wellbeing. Further, the finding that social support is positively correlated with psychological wellbeing might benefit students, as universities could encourage students to seek social support when they are struggling and provide ways for students to broaden their social network. For instance, students could be offered a peer support mentor so that they always feel that they have someone to turn to in times of need. Moreover, universities could promote students connecting via social media pages prior to starting university so that they begin university with a support network, as research has highlighted that student’s perception of social support can decline during the transition to university.