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Foreign Literature The relationships among stress, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in late adolescents were examined in a group of college students. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both stress and self-esteem were significantly related to suicidal ideation; low self-esteem and stressful life events significantly predicted suicidal ideation. The hypothesis that self-esteem would moderate the effects of life stressors on suicidal ideation was supported at the . 06 level.
A significant minority of the sample indicated having thoughts severe enough to be classified as clinical suicidal ideation. In general, participants who had experienced negative life events in the 6 to 12 months prior to participating in the study had lower self-esteem than those who had similar stresses within the prior six months. However, the opposite was true for clinical suicidal ideators; those who experienced negative life stressors recently had lower self-esteem than those who experienced negative life events six months to a year in the past.
Adolescent suicide is a worldwide problem, but it is of particular concern in highly industrialized nations such as the United States (Conner, Duberstein, Conwell, Seidlitz, & Caine, 2001); Kurtz & Derevensky, 1993). The suicide rate in the United States has tripled since 1960, making it the third leading cause of death among adolescents and the second leading cause of death among the college-age population (National Mental Health Association, 1997).
Although it is estimated that approximately 14 adolescents in the United States commit suicide each day, the actual number is two to three times higher (American Psychiatric Association, 1996; 1998). Understandably, these alarming statistics have stimulated great concern in the public at large and have led social scientists to warn of an impending rise in the number of suicides and suicidal attempts among adolescents (Berman & Jobes, 1994; Griffiths, Parley, & Fraser, 1986; Watt & Sharp, 2002).
Much of the research literature appears to be focused on suicide per se. However, professionals are increasingly paying attention to the antecedent behaviors. According to Bush and Pargament (1995), suicidal behavior is often preceded by thoughts, threats, and unsuccessful attempts at suicide. Similarly, Cole, Protinsky, and Cross (1992) noted that suicide was the completed process of a continuum that began with suicidal ideation, followed by an attempt at suicide, and finally completed suicide.
Suicidal ideation is a preoccupation with intrusive thoughts of ending one’s own life (Cole, Protinsky, ;amp; Cross, 1992; Harter, Marold, ;amp; Whitesell, 1992) while suicide is the completed act of taking ones life (National Mental Health Association, 2002). Because of this progression from thought to action, it is fitting that researchers explore the notion of suicidal ideation in greater depth. The current study examined the phenomenological relationship among stress, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in adolescents.
Much of the research to date has focused on the associations of stress and self-esteem to actual suicide but not to ideation. Moreover, the majority of studies have examined the relationships in clinical populations. Thus, we know little about the associations of these processes in nonclinical populations. The present study investigated the relationship among cumulative negative life experiences (stress), self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in a nonclinical population of college students.
Selye (1974) defined stress as a response of the human body to any stimulus that disrupts the individual’s homeostasis. Because these responses are unavoidable, individuals are faced with the constant urge to maintain internal balance. Accordingly, any experience that affects one’s homeostasis is considered to be stress (Rice, 1992). Social scientists have expanded Hans Selye’s notion of physiological stress to include social, cognitive, and psychological or mental stress.
Mullis, Youngs, Mullis, and Rathge (1993) proposed that stress is a function of an individual’s appraisal of a life stressor and therefore, a cognitive process. Similarly, Lazarus (1993) contended that the extent to which individuals experience stress is determined by their subjective evaluations of their experiences. Therefore, if individuals appraise an event as traumatic, they will experience more stress from the experience than will individuals who appraise the event as nonsignificant.
Researchers (e. g. , Bartle-Haring, Rosen, ;amp; Stith, 2002; Ferrer-Wreder, Lorente, Kurtines, Briones, Bussell, Berman, ;amp; Arrufat, 2002) have noted the importance of reducing stress by helping youth develop positive perceptions of the self in order to avoid catastrophic socioemotional outcomes such as suicidal behavior. Indeed, exposure to stress by youth has been linked to severe emotional and psychological problems (Bartle-Haring, Rosen, ;amp; Stith, 2002;
Gonzales, Tein, Sandier, ;amp; Friedman, 2001), a known precursor to suicide (Teen suicide, 1998). Campus personnel are concerned with the results of several studies showing high rates of depression on college campuses. A 2001 study of 1,455 college students from four universities (Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, ; Jenkins, 2001) found that 53% of the respondents experienced some form of depression while at college. Additionally, 9% reported that they had thought of committing suicide, with 1% reporting a suicide attempt.
The American College Health Association’s (2001) National College Health Assessment found that 76% of students reported feeling “overwhelmed” during the previous year and 22% were sometimes so depressed that they could not function. In studying college impact, Astin (1993) found that after entering college, students show a number of positive and negative changes in personality and self-concept. The most notable declines during college years are in the student’s sense of psychological well-being. The stresses and costs that untreated depression places on institutions of higher education are very significant (Levine ; Cureton, 1998).
There is little argument that colleges and universities would benefit from programs that creatively engage their members in positive options for prevention and early detection of depression (National Mental Health Association, 2002). College counseling centers must move away from the traditional focus on reactive and remedial treatment of depression and instead build community investment in reducing stress, providing social support, and encouraging and sustaining self-care (Stone ; Archer, 1990).
Counseling center professionals on one urban campus used this approach to develop a community-based program, Action for Depression Awareness, Prevention, and Treatment (ADAPT). The ADAPT program incorporates a community psychology perspective-that mental health problems are best understood and addressed within the context of an individual’s environment (Miller, 1969; Sarason, 1974). Community psychology conceptualizes human behavioral problems and solutions as part of a social context (Zax & Spector, 1974).
This perception has led to the view that student depression can best be understood as resulting from the stressful educational environment. In addition, the university is viewed as a system that can provide positive resources while serving to alleviate some problems that result from depression. The community psychology approach places an emphasis on collaboration across disciplines to respond to community needs and utilizes the knowledge and skills of the targeted treatment population (Dalton, Elias, & Wandersman, 2001).
In the last three decades, professionals in both the field of student development (Astin & Sax, 1998) and community psychology (Bloom, 1975) increasingly have documented the important positive academic, emotional, and social benefits that students derive when they are actively involved in their college community. For counseling services taxed by high demand for individual services, the community psychology approach increases available resources for students at risk. With expertise in direct psychological treatment, the staff of the Counseling Center has initiated, coordinated, and evaluated the efficacy of this community intervention.
Black students who attend predominately White institutions (PWI) face many obstacles. This study identified the stressful life events of Black college men via focus group discussions and examined how these events impact their mental health and health behaviors. Forty-six participants from a PWI and a historically Black college/university (HBCU) affirmed that they experience similar encounters with stressful life events, but participants at the PWI reported that their major stressors were the result of “school-related” events, while participants at the HBCU reported stressors that were not school-related.
Findings from this study present implications for future health promotion programs that target Black college men. A February 2005 article in USA Today (“Black men fall behind”) reported that from 2000 to 2001, the number of Black men in higher education rose by 30,000. During the same time the number of Black women in college rose by 73,000 suggesting that the gain was twice as large for Black women than Black men. From 2001 to 2002, the increase in the number of degrees (associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s) earned by Black men was less than 3%, whereas the number of Black women earning associate’s degrees rose by 6. %, bachelor’s by 4. 3% and master’s 4. 5% (“Black men fall behind,” 2005). Furthermore, the Justice Policy Institute found that Black men in their early 30s were nearly twice as likely to have prison records than bachelor’s degrees (Western, Schiraldi, ; Ziedenberg, 2003). These figures illustrate that although a number of Black men and women attend college, there is still a disparity between the two groups regarding matriculation and graduation rates.
An increasing literature identifies the stressful events of college life as the reason for why more Black men chose to leave college or not attend (Cureton, 2003; Lett ; Wright, 2003; Rowser, 1997). Whether defined in terms of life events or in terms of minor daily hassles, stress has disruptive effects on psychological well-being and functioning and can adversely affect Black college men. In fact, the transition to adulthood for Blacks may be associated with a heightened awareness of restricted opportunities that may lead to increased levels of stress in early adulthood and maladaptive patterns of coping (Williams, 2003).
The cultural, social, and academic experiences of Black undergraduate students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominately White institutions (PWIs) have been compared by several authors (Bohr, Pascarella, Nora, ; Terenzini, 1995; Cheatham, Slaney, ; Coleman, 1990; Cokley, 1999; DeSousa ; Kuh, 1996; Fleming, 1984; Flowers ; Pascarella, 1999). For example, early research affirmed that more Black students at HBCUs felt an increased sense of connectedness, power, and affiliation at HBCUs than at PWIs (Fleming).
DeSousa and Kuh found that Black students at HBCUs devoted more effort to academic activities; experienced more significant gains in intellectual development, critical thinking, and cultural awareness; and enjoyed greater personal and social benefits than those at PWIs. Likewise, a study by Berger and Milem (2000) found that students who attended HBCUs offered significantly higher self-ratings in three domains of self-concept-psychosocial wellness, academic self-efficacy, and achievement orientation-than Black students attending PWIs.
In a more recent study, Harper Carini, Bridges, and Hayek (2004) found that despite their limited financial resources, HBCUs offer better learning environments and support mechanisms for Black undergraduates and greatly influence positive Black student outcomes. In order to gain a better understanding about the experiences of Black college students at HBCUs and PWIs social scientists must understand these experiences in the context of their mental health and health behaviors. The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (1999) defines “mental health” as the successful erformance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity. Individuals who maintain their mental health find ways to acknowledge and positively cope with the stressors in their lives. Stressors are demands made by the internal or external environment that upset balance or homeostasis, thus affecting physical and psychological well-being and requiring action to restore balance or equilibrium (Lazarus ; Cohen, 1977).
During the 1960s and 1970s the focus of research on stress shifted to identifying and quantifying potential stressors, or stressful life events. Also during that era, stress was viewed as a transactional phenomenon that relied on the meaning of the stimulus to the perceiver (Antonovsky, 1979; Lazarus, 1966). The understanding of stress during that time involved the perceptions of the events (rather than the events themselves) as the main determinants of effects on subsequent behaviors and on health status.
Stressful life experiences are interpreted as transactions between the person and the environment in which the impact of external stressors is dependent upon the person’s appraisal of that stressor (Lazarus & Cohen). College students face a host of stressors. University-level homework may be more challenging (and plentiful! ) than anything you’ve ever faced before, and final exams can bring a whole new meaning to the term ‘crunch time. ‘ The difficulties also don’t typically end with academics.
Romance and social lives can be as much a source of anxiety as they are of fun, and many students struggle to stay on top of the newfound freedoms of living away from home, from cooking to laundry to managing a budget. In response to these challenges, some students fall behind on homework, stop attending class or worse – they turn to dangerous coping mechanisms like drugs or alcohol. Don’t let this happen to you! Here are some ideas for managing your college life and keeping your stress levels under control.
The material covered in college courses is more complex than that taught in high school classes, and it’s presented at a faster pace. Also, professors assign more reading, writing and problem sets than you may be used to. APA: Wilburn, V. , Smith, D. (2005, April 01). STRESS, SELF-ESTEEM, AND SUICIDAL IDEATION IN LATE ADOLESCENTS. Adolescence, (157), 33, Retrieved from http://elibrary. bigchalk. com Field, L. , Elliott, M. , Korn, P. (2006, January 01). A Successful Community-Based Intervention for Addressing College Student Depression.
Journal of College Student Development, (1), 105, Retrieved from http://elibrary. bigchalk. com Watkins, D. , Green, B. , Goodson, P. , Guidry, J. , Stanley, C. (2007, January 01). Using Focus Groups to Explore the Stressful Life Events of Black College Men. Journal of College Student Development, (1), 105, Retrieved from http://elibrary. bigchalk. com Dealing Stress With College, May 25, 2011 retrieved from http://education-portal. com/articles/Dealing_with_Stress_During_College. html College Work is Harder, retrieved from http://www. collegeboard. com/student/plan/college-success/963. tml Local Study College students have many obstacles to overcome in order to achieve their optimal academic performance. It takes a lot more than just studying to achieve a successful college career. Different stressors such as time management, financial problems, sleep deprivation and social activities can contribute to the threat to a student’s academic performance. Many Computer Science College Students may find the academic experience very stressful. They experience stress because of the different academic expectations of their parents and their professors as well.
And with that, it can also affect their school performance and personal behavior. According to the study conducted by Glenn M. Calaguas (June 2011), “adolescent behaviors such as school performance help to shape the quality of parent-adolescent relationships. When adolescents struggle in school, it can be a source of stress and tension in the parent-adolescent relationship. ” And regarding to the teacher’s expectations, there is also a little impact on student’s performance. They have this impact through teacher behavior. And other cause of stress is self-expectations.
In his study, he believes that the common form of anxiety causing stress is achievement anxiety. Achievement anxiety is a fear of failure in an academic setting that arises when parents, teachers or the student’s own expectations exceed what the student believes he/she can realistically achieve. (http://www. ifrnd. org/JEVR/1(3)%20June%202011/The%20Link%20between_Academic%20Achievement. pdf) According to Calderon people who experience a high level of stress for a long time and who cope poorly with this stress may become irritable, socially withdrawn, and emotionally unstable.
They may also have difficulty concentrating and solving problems. Some people under intense and prolonged stress may start to suffer from extreme anxiety, depression or other severe emotional problems. Odrigo G. Ancheta says that, “Stress gives us energy to cope with the demanding activity of life. It is true that stress is a normal constant part of our life because it involves changes, challenges and emotions. Try to imagine life without stress. You would not have any challenges anything to affect your emotions and anything new and exciting.
It gives as energy because it activity involves physically and emotionally. Stress might be considered as a problem because we often bear about stress in a negative light that people may only associate’s bad experiences with stress. How you perceived and handled stressors will determine whether the stress is good or bad for you. A situation that seems extremely stressful to you could leave very calm to somebody. Flores (2000) said that a person who is stressed typically less anxious thoughts and difficulty concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviors.
Teeth clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are common signs of stress. People also feel physically different when they are stress. Butterflies in the stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth and increase heart rate are all physiological effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety. (http://www. scribd. com/doc/34415589/STRESS-MANAGEMENT-PERFORMED-BY-THE-LEVEL-III-NURSING-STUDENTS-OF-NUEVA-ECIJA-UNIVERSITY-OF-SCIENCE-AND-TECHNOLOGY-WITH-REGARDS-TO-THEIR-CLINICAL-DUTIE) And according to the local study of Roxel Apruebo (2009), there are simple ways of coping with stress.
There are two ways. The first one is the Problem-focused coping where you eliminate the cause of stress by confronting and solving the problems. The second one is the Emotion-focused coping where you just need to regulate the negative emotional consequences of stressors by self-controlling and accepting responsibilities. (http://webcache. googleusercontent. com/search? q=cache:http://www. slideshare. net/lanel09/final-paper-1717456) Synthesis: Most of the authors of local studies that we gathered, mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of stress. Stress is caused by different stressors.
It is the body’s reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response in person. These are the different studies that we gathered from local studies issued about stress. People who cope poorly with stress may become irritable, socially withdrawn, and emotionally unstable. Stress gives us energy to cope with the demanding activity of life. A stressed person has typically less anxious thoughts and has a difficulty in concentrating or remembering. People also feel physically different when they are stress. We take stress as a hindrance to finish our goals because of its disadvantages.
Foreign Studies According to the foreign study conducted by Ranjita Misra (August 2000), academic stress among college students has been a topic of interest for many years. College students experience high stress at predictable times each semester due to academic commitments, financial pressures, and lack of time management skills. When stress is perceived negatively or becomes excessive, it can affect both health and academic performance. University students often attempt to control and reduce their stress through avoidance, religious and social support, or positive reappraisal.
Leisure satisfaction and fitness activities act as stress buffers, providing a sense of purpose and competence for college students. Student academic stress is also reduced and controlled through effective time management and study techniques. Macan (1990) found those students who perceived themselves in control of their time reported greater work and life satisfactions and fewer job-induced and somatic tensions. Research examining gender differences and comparison of student and faculty perceptions of students’ academic stress, however, is limited.
According to the foreign study that conducted by Suzanne S. Hudd (July 2004), Stress is an individualized phenomenon, unique to each person and setting. Pearlin (1989) has suggested that there are two major types of stressors: life events and chronic strains. Life events research considers the extent to which the accumulation of a series of experiences can create a stressful impact. Stress from chronic strain results in role overload: conflicting roles in an individual’s life that produce competing, and potentially conflicting, demands over time. Role conflict is a common part of the college experience.
College students must learn to balance the competing demands of academics, developing new social contacts and being responsible for their own daily needs (e. g. , nutrition and clean clothing). In addition, while the academic workload requires that students face a series of peak periods such as midterms and finals, there is a relatively constant underlying pressure to complete an upcoming assignment. According to the foreign study that conducted by Shannon Ross (June 1999), College students, especially freshmen, are a group particularly prone to stress due to the transitional nature of college life.
They must adjust to being away from home for the first time, maintain a high level of academic achievement, and adjust to a new social environment. College students, regardless of year in school, often deal with pressures related to finding a job or a potential life partner. These stressors do not cause anxiety or tension by themselves. Instead, stress results from the interaction between stressors and the individual’s perception and reaction to those stressors. The amount of stress experienced may be influenced by the individual’s ability to effectively cope with stressful events and situations.
If stress is not dealt with effectively, feelings of loneliness and nervousness, as well as sleeplessness and excessive worrying may result. It is important that stress intervention programs be designed to address stress of college students. However, in order to design an effective intervention, the stressors specific to college students must be determined. Synthesis: The different studies that we gathered from different foreign researchers were all about stressors of the college students. Stressors that may affect to their academic performance and hinder to focused on their studies.
One of the researchers mentioned that reactions to stressors refer to the state of physical or psychological arousal that usually results from the perception of stress. Academic stressors include the student’s perception of the extensive knowledge base required and the perception of inadequate time to develop it. Excessive stress induces physical impairments, and it is not uncommon to find students afflicted with persistent lack of energy, loss of appetite, headaches, or gastrointestinal problem. It is important that stress intervention programs be designed to address stress of college students.
However, in order to design an effective intervention, the stressors specific to college students must be determined. Local Literature Stress Stress was popularly used in the 17th century to mean hardship, strain, adversity or affliction. But in the 18th century it denoted as force, pressure or strong effort with reference to the people. For us, we commonly denote stress as a strong pressure that sometimes lead us to behave uncomfortable. In general psychology, stress is defined as “a bodily reaction that can occur in response to either internal, cognitive stimuli or external environmental stimuli”.
Types of Stress Eustress – a positive force in our lives that is equivalent of finding excitement and challenge. Distress – it is often results in negative outcomes for the person and the group. Stress is anywhere. And we’re nearly exposed beside them. For those who can handle them properly, they are consider as healthy. It is a positive aura that leads us to do difficult tasks. This is called eustress. But if the stressors are not properly used, we’ll react negatively that causes interference in our daily activities. This is called distress.
Types of Stressor Physical stressor – are conditions such as crowding, isolation, presence of toxic elements. Psychological stressor – results from one’s own mental and emotional activity to one’s own inner cognitions and emotions or to outside factors such as places and events. Sources of stress from life changes to minor hassles: 1. Life changes – Significant life events, such as separation from the caregiver, entering puberty, marriage, moving to a new home, death of loved one, tend to disrupt our lives and cause more stress than normal. . Microstressors – The most common sources of stress arises from the hassles that irritate us everyday. These are in low intensity, yet happen frequently. 3. Work related stress – Adults spend more time at work and this causes stress to the person most specially when they work overtime and have a very demanding boss. Coping with stress Lazarus and Folkman define coping as “constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage external and internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person”.
Make a schedule you can stick to Many of us, especially students treat studying as a burden and such a waste of time because of the stress it gives. But if they do some time management, they’ll find it much less hassle. Instead of having a “manyana habit”, it will be better if all works are done early. Take breaks (and rewards! ) There are so many people look studying as a chore or a task but people may avoid it. Studying for 4 hours straight is no good and has no fun for most people. But having a 1 hour study and 5 minute break is much better and enjoyable.
Sources: Santos, M. , Galvez, P. & Malabuyo, T. , (2008). Stress defined. General Psychology. pp. 163 – 164. Santos, M. , Galvez, P. & Malabuyo, T. , (2008). Sources of stress: from major life changes to minor hassle. General Psychology. pp. 164 – 167. Make a schedule you can stick to. (2010). Compscider. p. 03. Take breaks (a rewards! ). (2010). Compscider. p. 03. Castillo, R. MD. , (2008). Local related literature. Retrieved September 21, 2011, from http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Literature-For-Stress/597206? topic