Top Stressors among Filipino Undergraduate Students: A Multicenter-Interdisciplinary Study

Abstract

Stress has been identified as the antecedent for undesirable outcomes, such as depression and self-harm but there still lack of awareness on extent of its impact on academics most notably in a developing country like the Philippines. Thus, a multicenter and interdisciplinary study was employed on 501 students from six state universities in the Philippines. A questionnaire structured to assess the perception of the students as to the severity of identified stressors) as well as the prevalence of the coping mechanisms they adopt to overcome stress was used. The results indicated that academic stressors proved to be the main contributory factor to levels of distress among undergraduates. Educators and decision-makers should tailor regular student evaluations and programs that ensure the impediment of the sources of stress and other measures for further prevention.