EDF 5481: Article Critique
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Introduction
The article that will be critiqued is “Stress among higher education students: towards a research agenda.” The article has two primary aims that provide a critical review of stress and students. One issue addresses the amount of stress and how students cope with that stress. The article also discuses a quantitative approach and focuses on stress experiences during a period of study. The article focuses on a population of 2,175,115 higher education students in the UK of which 1,111,310 are full time undergraduates. Validity is measured by collecting stress levels of students working part time both in the UK and other countries. These students study vocational studies such as nursing, law, and hospitality. An increasing amount of stress and also an increasing amount of health problems have similar correlations.
The article groups five student stressors and goes into detail as to why these topics aid to students stress levels. Stress related to studying, stress related to examinations, stressors related to the transition to a university, stressors related to being in a different country, and finally, stressors related to financial issues. The article also explains how students respond to stress. Usually student’s response to stress is categorized into emotional, cognitive reactions, behavioral, and physiological categories. Previous studies of stress and students have shown that a majority of viewpoints have focused on approaches where students complete a self- report inventory that measures stress, and well being stressors. The Life Experience Survey (Saronson, 1978), the Hassle Scale (Kanner, 1981), The Chronic Life Stress Survey (Towbes, 1996), The Academic Stress Scale (Abouserie, 1994) and the Social Support Inventory (Pennebaker, 1982) are a few of the stress scales used amongst others.
The aim of the article is to review previous research into the stress that students in higher education experience and what strategies can be established for future research. The results found that there are areas of concern that are related to the previous research taken. Indicators show an over emphasis on a quantitative approach and a lack of longitudinal dues that focus on the micro approach. A conclusive entry finds that there are a significant number of students that shows a trend of increasing stress among higher education students all over the world.
Critique
The article showcases strengths into the research and comparisons of stressors amongst higher education students. There are many strengths and many weakness that are indicated in the stressors comparisons. The article focuses on the different stressors that influence different students. These five stressors are the top five that most coincides with main concerns that a student would face going into higher education. Studying has a large impact on students because of the fear of failure. Meeting deadlines is a major source of stress for students. (Misra, 2000). Time management is a large part of studying, many view that too little is given to study, because many students are still working along with a large school load. Examinations are also a large stressor for students because it can change sleeping and eating parents for students. It was found that a majority of students reduced in stress after an exam. (Mechanic, 1978).
The article also emphasis the point that transition to a larger University is stressful for those students that are leaving home for the first time. There is stress to take on new responsibilities and an additional work load burden to support financial issues. A statement that leads to the point that stressors are also an indication of financial issue. This can be a study all on its own, however, the article draws that usually students live with a limited amount of financial resources that makes it difficult to live a content life.
Also compared are students that have part- time and full- time jobs. Many considerations were taken when picking out the reasons of main stressors. I appreciate that the article considered ways for students to handle stress. Stress management as a concept is described in different levels as when the intervention takes place, the scope of the intervention, the focus, and the outcomes that are expected from the intervention. It’s specified that with stress intervention, specific problems are a better way to diffuse stress rather than just a general de-stressing program. There is an emphasis that Universities should aid more to the coping attempts at stress.
The article also emphasizes come concerns that should be measured for future studies. Out of the five reasons listed for stressors; studying, examinations, transitioning into a university, being in a different country, and financial stress, there should also be an indicator if these issues are being caused by stress of whether stress is a general factor that comes with being a University student.
Also, the study falls into a narrow range of subject areas. The study should broaden its study outside of law, nursing, and hospitality. Students are in these vocational fields of students should also External validity in this case cannot determine that because they are all higher education students, the experience stress due to the lack of the sample from the vocational population. Also a need to investigate that the research studies do not identify is how stress levels fluctuate during the course of the student’s degree. The “snapshot” approach only showcases the place in time and doesn’t measure the true validity of when the stress changes or remains. The ability of the individual to cope with the stress is an important factor that should be considered as well. Overall, the study does a well job of coming up with reasons to compare stressors with limitations being specific time frames and the validity of the students majors. Aside for specific details, there is a conclusive showcase that higher education is amongst a leading cause of stressors.
Conclusion
It is stated that stress is the result of an individual’s perception that they do not have the resources to cope with a perceived situation from the past, present, or future. (Lazarus et al. 1984) This concludes that even though a situation is regarded as stressful by one individual, does not necessary mean that the same situation is stressful for another individual. How they deal with the stress can be both a positive situation and it can be negative. When taking a stressful period to study harder, this leads to a positive response. A negative response to a stressful situation can lead to dropping out of the course. This leads to avoiding the entire assignment. Also, one in ten students may need professional support to support and reduce certain levels of school- caused stress. (Abouserie, 1994).
The study has been conducted all over the world, with a lot of the UK and higher emphases on specific vocational studies that seem to increase stress levels. It has been researched for the past 25 years that a significant number of students have increased in levels of stress. This is all in relation to higher education, and it has not limited itself to the United States. These instruments rely on the individual’s conception of their emotional and mental state of mind. It is determined that many of these stressors implicated in the article are a result of students transition from home to university. It can also be said that not all stress experiences is negative. (Anderson, 2001). Stress is a necessary part of what is meant to be in higher education and learn at a University level. Many offer students the potential to experience a positive stress called eustress. (Brown, 1999) The article does a very descriptive job of comparing different stress levels and causes for students of higher education. Emphases and concerns were pointed out as being potential study aids for the future, and the correlation shows with more specific aim towards a larger population, stressors are higher for students.
References
Abouserie, R. (1994). Sources and levels of stress in relation to locus of control and self- esteem in university students. Educational Psychology, 14(3), 323-330;
Lazarus, R. (1999) Stress and emotion: A new synthesis. London; Free Association Books.
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, Springer.
McMilliam, J.H. (2011) Educational Research Fundamentals for the Consumer (6th Ed). Boston: Pearson.
Misra, R., McKean, M., West, S,. & Russo, T.(2000). Academic stress of college students: Comparison of student and faculty perceptions. College Student Journal, 34(2), 236-245.
Robotham, S. (2008) Stress among higher education students: towards a research agenda. Higher Education, 56(6), 735-746.
