Predictors of the academic stress and its determinants among students based on the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Introduction: According to various researches, students suffer from enormous stress during their studies. If the stress intensifies or continues, it will create problems in mental health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate predictive and effective factors of academic stress among students based on the theory of planned behavior. Materials and Methods: The statistical community of this descriptive-analytic study consist all students of Ferdowsi University of Medical Sciences. Amongst them 320 students selected randomly. Data collection was done using demographic, academic stress of Gadzella and researcher based on the theory of behavioral behavior questionnaire that its validity and reliability were confirmed. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and related statistical tests. Results: There was a significant relationship between academic stress, gender (P<0.05) and educational level (P<0.001). Based on Spearman's correlation coefficient, there was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and academic stress (r=0.201, P<0.001). Subjective norms (r= -0.177, P<0.05) and perceived behavioral control (r= -0.261, P<0.001) has reverse relationship. Also, the results of regression showed that the theory of planned behavior in general predicted 14.7 variance of students' academic stress which knowledge and perceived behavioral control has significant effect on them (P<0.001). Â Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that the use of the theory of planned behavior in educational interventions on perceived behavioral control structure may be effective in academic stress.