Influence of gender and academic year on stress and coping behaviour of students in a South African university
Abstract
This study assessed the influence of gender and academic year on stress and coping behaviour of students in one South African university. The objective of this study is to determine whether gender and academic year exert an influence on the stress and coping behaviour of university students. A simple randomization technique was used to recruit 321 students aged between 18 to 30 years ( x̅ = 21.67, SD = 2.69) among first year and final year students in the North-West University, Mafikeng Campus. The Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) and University Stress Scale (USS) were adopted as primary data collecting tools. The results demonstrate that there is no significant difference in stress between male and female students p>.05. However, the results show that there is a significant difference in coping behaviour between male and female students p<.001. The results further indicate that there is no significant difference in stress and coping behaviour between first and final year students p>.05. The majority of students reported practical stressors as major sources of stress p<.001. In conclusion, first and final year students apparently experience the same level of stress and tend to adopt similar coping behaviours. The study recommends that in terms of university infrastructure, this should be conducive for studying and living through adequate maintenance. Furthermore, students residing off-campus should get with transport that could assist in the reduction of student stress.
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