The Predictive Roles of Hope and Social Support in Academic Stress

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This study investigates the relationships among hope, academic stress, and social support in university students. It first assesses the levels of hope and academic stress and then explores their relationship. Additionally, the study examines how various forms of support—emotional, tangible, informational, and appraisal—affect academic stress and evaluates the predictive power of these factors. Employing a cross-sectional design, university students were selected through stratified random sampling. Measurement tools included the Adult Hope Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Data analysis revealed that participants exhibited moderate levels of hope and social support while experiencing moderate academic stress. Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analyses indicated negligible and statistically non-significant correlations between social support types and academic stress, with minimal impacts from emotional (r = -0.04, p = .154), tangible (r = 0.01, p = .325), informational (r = -0.02, p = .438), and appraisal support (r = 0.01, p = .476). The regression analysis showed that social support types explained only a small variance in academic stress (R² = .018, Adjusted R² = -.013), suggesting the influence of other critical factors in stress management. These findings highlight the situational nature of the relationships between hope, social support, and academic stress, underscoring the need for further research to identify effective strategies for supporting students during stressful periods. Keywords: Hope, Social Support, Academic Str