Etiology, Nature and Upshot of Academic Stress on Fresh Science Degree Students in Tertiary Institutions, an Extrapolation

Abstract

The paper examined the etiology, nature and upshot on Fresh (year one) science students in higher institutions in Port Harcourt. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to establish the perceived sources of stress on fresh university science students. A population of 6000 students was used; out of it, a samples size of 200 was selected through a stratified random sampling for the study. The study was guided with 2 research questions and 2 hypotheses. Academic stress rating scale (ASRS) was the instrument used after it was validated and it reliability was known using the Cronbach alpha r=0.87. The data collected was analyzed using the mean(x) and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the ANOVA and t-test were used to test the hypotheses. The result showed that; the sources of stress on fresh degree student varied from, personal, facilities, financial and other social factors. The stressors experienced by fresh students was categorized on the bases of strength into low, medium and high. The major sources of stress on fresh students came from three (3) main clusters of issues which borders around (1) environmental factors (2) social and (3) financial factors. In addition to the above, the result showed a significant difference in the sources of stress among the various department. On the other hand, the severity of stress does not differ between male and female students. Based on these, some recommendations were made.