Investigating Stress Coping Strategies Used by Model College Students

Abstract

Students experience stress at every level of their schooling. Normal reaction of the body to challenges is stress. Stress has evolved into a regular occurrence in daily life due to the several internal and outside expectations placed on students. Stress-ridden students may suffer significant negative effects that can be avoided and managed. Therefore, keeping in mind the stated objectives, which included identifying the stress coping strategies used by college students and was analyzed most frequently stress coping strategies being used by Model College students in Islamabad.
The study's approach was descriptive. The study population included on 8056 college students from Islamabad Model College for Boys and Islamabad Model College for Girls. The sample consisted on 368(first year 187 and second-year 181) college students from Islamabad Model Colleges for Boys and Girls. Convenient sampling helped the respondents to be selected. Data came from the Brief cope inventory (Carver, 1997). Standard deviation, mean values, and percentage approaches were used in statistical analysis of the tabulated data. Convenient sampling was used to gather a sample of thirty students—other than those involved in the main study—for pilot testing of the questionnaire. There was found the coefficient alpha value of internal dependability. Alpha = 0.61. The results of the study revealed that, respectively, religion, active coping, and self-distraction were the three coping mechanisms most often used for emotional, problem-oriented, and avoidant coping. The study found that students at model colleges utilized stress management strategies more problem-oriented than emotionally or avoidance-oriented. One of the suggestions is that students should have access to some kind of support structure, such mentorship and counseling, to help in stress management and inform them about the bad consequences of stress. A counseling unit consists on lecturers and students should be interactive and strengthen their bonding among them to develop supportive abilities like chatting and sharing and make students feel more at ease expressing their emotions.